BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end on Friday night as the Huskies were swept by Buffalo, 25-23, 25-14, 25-19, at Alumni Arena. Junior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) and freshman Kaylee Martin (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) each had nine kills for the Huskies. 

"It was one of those nights," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "It starts with me not getting our team as prepared to be as successful as we needed to be. Big credit to Buffalo, defending their home court. We just couldn't recover from their level of physical play from their hitters; they are probably the most physical team we have seen, and certainly in league play."

NIU (4-18, 3-4 MAC) raced out to a 9-4 lead in the opening set that forced a Buffalo timeout. The Bulls fought back to pull even in the set, 13-13. The remainder of the set remained tight as the Huskies, trailing by a pair 23-21, got kills from Martin and Wolowicz to force the sixth tie of the first frame. Following a timeout, Buffalo used back-to-back kills from Polina Prokudina to take the set, 25-23. 

Prokudina and Andrea Mitrovic each had five kills in the opening set as the Bulls recorded 16 as a team while hitting .333. Martin had four kills to pace the Huskies in the set. 

The second set was tied, 7-7, before Buffalo used a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. The lead grew to 20-11 for the Bulls, an advantage that proved too much for NIU to overcome as Buffalo went into the intermission trailing two sets to none. 

Mitrovic collected six kills in the second set as Buffalo hit .400 with 16 kills; Larra Bickelhaupt tallied seven digs in the set for the Bulls. Wolowicz had four kills in the second set to lead NIU. 

Buffalo (10-8, 3-4 MAC) took an 11-6 lead in the third set but NIU trimmed the lead back to just a pair, 14-12. A 4-1 burst by the Bulls increased their advantage to five, 18-13, and forced a Huskie timeout. NIU twice cut the Buffalo lead to four but was unable to get any closer as the Bulls closed out the final set, 25-19. 

Mitrovic had six kills in the final set and totaled a match-high 17, Prokudina added 11 kills as the Bulls hit .327 in the match. Bickelhaupt paced Buffalo with 18 digs; senior Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) had 10 digs to lead NIU. 

NIU will wrap-up its current four-match road trip on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, when the Huskies visit Akron. First serve against the Zips is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN3.