DEKALB, Ill. – Senior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) became the 23^rd Northern Illinois University volleyball player to reach 1,000 career kills Saturday night as the Huskies fell in five sets 3-2 (25-19, 13-25, 25-21, 12-15, 15-17) to the Buffalo Bulls at Victor E. Court.
 
"It's a really cool accomplishment," said Wolowicz about reaching 1,000 kills. "I couldn't have done anything without the teammates who set to me, or the people to pass it. It's a cool accomplishment but it shows what this team has done for me. This reflects more on the program than it does me."
 
Wolowicz led NIU with 18 kills on the night, hitting .250 for the match. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) added 13 kills and nine digs. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 29 assists to lead the Huskies as Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) added 11 assists and 11 digs. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led all players with 27 digs.
 
Buffalo (12-8, 4-4 MAC) got off to a fast start, taking an 8-3 lead after a pair of aces from Andrea Mitrovic. After falling behind 12-6, NIU got within three at 12-9 after kills by Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) and Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State) and a Radtke solo block. NIU rallied all the way back to take a 17-16 lead as a pair of Buffalo errors capped a 5-0 Huskies run. The Huskies lead 19-18 when a Wolowicz kill sparked another five-point NIU run that gave them set point at 24-18. NIU took the set 25-19 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Bulls' offense came alive in set two, hitting .586 with 17 kills and no errors to win it 25-13 and tie the match 1-1. Buffalo opened the set on a 5-1 run, but NIU used kills by Radtke and Wolowicz to get within two at 11-9. Buffalo then won six of the next eight points to take a 17-11 lead. A Kristina Nieves kill started a 7-0 Bulls run that put Buffalo ahead 24-12.
 
"As a whole, I thought there were moments when we were doing some good things," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We knew we were going to have two tough matches against Akron and Buffalo. Last night's match was tough, but I thought we did a good job winning the important points. Tonight was hard because the momentum kept going up and down. We still had chances to pull out the win but came up short."
 
NIU (7-16, 5-3 MAC) took a 2-0 lead to start set three on a Bulls error and Wolowicz's 1,000^th career kill. The Huskies led 6-5 when a Mitrovic kill started a four-point Buffalo run to put the visitors up 9-6. NIU rallied to tie the set 12-12 on back-to-back kills by Wolowicz and Milbrath. The two teams traded points up to 15-15. After a Mitrovic kill put Buffalo ahead 16-15, a Radtke kill and Bulls error gave the Huskies a 17-16 lead. NIU led 22-21 when a Milbrath kill sparked a 3-0 run that gave the Huskies the set 25-21 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Huskies took advantage of Buffalo miscues early in the fourth set to take a 4-2 lead. The Bulls then won 17 of the next 19 points to take a 19-6 lead. Buffalo won nine straight points off Mitrovic's serve to go up by 13 as Mitrovic, Scout McClerran, and Megan Wernette combined for six aces during that stretch. NIU was held to a .000 hitting percentage as Buffalo won the set 25-12 to force a deciding fifth set.
 
NIU jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start the fifth, getting two kills from Wolowicz and a kill from Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper). The lead grew to three at 6-3 after a Radtke kill. The Huskies led 8-6 when a Nieves kill kickstarted a 5-0 Buffalo run that put the Bulls in front 11-8. Buffalo was two points from winning the match at 13-11 when a pair of errors and a Radtke kill gave NIU match point 14-13. Mitrovic tied the set at 14, with a block by McClerran and Nieves putting Buffalo ahead 15-14. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) put down a kill to keep the match alive, tying it 15-15. However, a pair of NIU errors allowed the Bulls to win the set 17-15 and the match 3-2.
 
Buffalo hit .233 for the match, holding NIU to a .174 mark. The Bulls also held an 81-64 advantage in digs and an 8-5 edge in blocks. Mitrovic led all players with 26 kills and five aces and added 23 digs. McClerran had 50 assists and four aces.
 
"There's still room for us to improve," Gooden said. "Buffalo showed it to us tonight. We still need to be stable and consistent for the duration of sets. I thought we did that last night, but we need to do it on back-to-back nights. We'll have to do it for three straight nights if we qualify for the MAC Tournament. We still have to learn how to do that for as long as we can."
 
The Huskies now go on the road for five straight matches, beginning on Friday, Oct. 19 with a 5 p.m. match at Kent State.
 
--NIU--