DeKALB - Serving for location to create return pressure and low-percentage attacking angles against Bowling Green (10-5, 0-2 MAC) Saturday night, the NIU defense  (10-4, 2-0 MAC) thrived against Falcons as they totaled 15 blocks to defeat the Falcons in four sets, 25-14, 25-15, 16-25, 25-16.

Senior Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) led the Huskies with 13 kills while Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) recorded her first career double-double with 10 kills and 10 blocks. BGSU's Jelena Sunjic led all attackers with 19 kills, 11 of which came in the third set.

"It was a really good team effort of applying pressure and our serve really got us to that point. I think our team was pumped to play this match against a really good team that's probably top-two in the East and maybe even two or three in the conference so for us to do what we did tonight at home was really special," said Head Coach Ray Gooden.

The NIU players' energy in Victor E. Court was amplified by the 562 fans in attendance during the match as the deafening noise rallied the Huskies in the first two sets heading into the intermission, 25-14, 25-15.

Strong blocking carried was the Huskies strength in the periods as they amassed five in the first frame and six more in the second. NIU's solid .400 hitting percentage in the opening set also fueled the team's momentum.

Sunjic took over the match in the third set for Bowling Green as she went 11-for-18 (.611) to lead the Falcons back within one set, 25-16. BGSU totaled 18 kills and hit .359 as a team. Bowling Green's attacking angles in the set forced NIU into lowest percentage returns and attacks as NIU went 10-for-36 with only two errors for a percentage of .222.

NIU rebounded in the fourth with a 25-16 victory as it recorded three more blocks  and added its final service ace of three in the set. The Huskies attacking proved to be the focal point of their scoring as Northern Illinois University hit .306 with 15 kills to seal the match, 25-16.

Despite Bowling Green's strong third set, the Huskies out dug the Falcons in the match, 62-58, and though ace numbers were not at a premium as in Thursday night's win over Western Michigan, the Huskies only committed six service errors to Bowling Green's 11.

NIU will hit the road next weekend to take Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan in Mt. Pleasant and Ypsilanti, respectively. The Huskies will start the trip versus CMU on Friday night.