COLUMBUS, Ohio – After dropping the first two sets against No. 25 Ohio State, the Northern Illinois University volleyball team won the third set but was unable to continue that momentum, falling 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, to the nationally-ranked Buckeyes on Friday night at St. John Arena. 

Freshman Kaylee Martin (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) recorded a team-high 12 kills, junior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) added 10 kills. Senior Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) tallied a team-best 22 digs while freshman Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) chipped in 13 digs. 

Junior Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) added a career-best eight kills. 

"The one goal (tonight) was to compete against whoever we had across the net, in this case Ohio State," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "I thought we did a better job of competing against them, putting them under some pressure at times and doing some positive things, which led to us winning the third set. You take the positive from that and then understand that you just have to play better, longer."

Ohio State (6-4) led the opening set by one, 9-8, before using a 5-0 run to take a six-point lead. The Huskies rallied to within a pair, 19-17, but Ohio State responded with the next four points as it went on to take the set, 25-19. 

The Buckeyes recorded 19 kills in the first set, including seven from Ayanna Swan. 

In the second set with Ohio State leading 11-10, the Buckeyes scored the next five points to push their lead to six. With Ohio State in front 17-12, the two teams traded side outs for 16 consecutive points as NIU was unable to cut into the Ohio State lead and the Buckeyes claimed the set, 25-21. 

Swan tallied six kills in the second set for Ohio State; Wolowicz had five to pace the Huskies while hitting .625 in the set. 

NIU (1-13) jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the third set as used a 4-0 burst, capped by a block from McAlpin and sophomore Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy), to build the cushion. After Ohio State pulled within one, 20-19, back-to-back kills from Martin and Wolowicz pushed the lead back to three as NIU claimed the third set, 25-22, capped by a kill from McAlpin.

Wolowicz had four kills in the set; Brereton collected eight digs in set number three. NIU held Ohio State to just .039 hitting in the set. 

In the fourth set, Ohio State hit .394 with 17 kills as they finished the match with a 25-18 win in the set. The Buckeyes led the fourth, 23-14, when NIU scored four-straight points to pull within five, but it wasn't enough as Ohio State held on to win the set and take the match. 

Swan posted 19 kills to lead Ohio State, Luisa Schirmer added 14 and Ashley Wenz tallied 10 kills. Hannah Gruensfelder had a match-high 31 digs for the Buckeyes. 

NIU will close non-conference play on Saturday, Sept. 16, when the Huskies face Western Kentucky in their final match of the Buckeye Invitational. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT at the Capital Center in Bexley, Ohio.