TOLEDO, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University volleyball team got back to its winning ways Saturday night, defeating the Toledo Rockets 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-15) at Savage Arena.

"I thought we did a nice job with a good start," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Tonight we did a good job in all phases. We were balanced offensively, did a good job defensively and with our block. Overall, it was a good team effort."

Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) led all players with 16 kills, hitting .245 with 10 digs. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) added 10 kills and seven digs. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) led the Huskies with 29 assists as Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) chipped in with 12 assists and 12 digs. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led the match with 25 digs while Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) led all players with six blocks.

NIU (9-18, 7-5 MAC) opened the match on 4-1 run, getting a kill from McAlpin and three Toledo errors. The Rockets used a 3-0 run, capped by an Emma Swope kill, to tie the set at 5. The Huskies responded by taking the next four points, as kills by McAlpin and Radtke helped put NIU up 9-5. NIU's lead grew to six at 13-7 following a kill by Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State). The Rockets cut the NIU lead to four at 14-10, but another Rullan Vilanova kill sparked a 4-0 Huskies' run that put NIU ahead 18-10. Toledo got as close as three late in the set, but Rullan Vilanova's third kill of the set gave NIU the set 25-20 and a 1-0 lead in the match.

Toledo (9-14, 4-8 MAC) jumped out to a fast start in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead bookended by a pair of kills from Chloee Kleespies. The two sides traded points until 9-6 when another Kleespies kill sparked a 3-0 Toledo run to give the Rockets a 12-6 lead. Toledo led 17-9 when a McAlpin kill started a 6-0 NIU run that put the Huskies within two, 17-15. Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) had a kill in the run as well as Toledo committed four errors in the spurt. NIU closed the gap to two at 22-20 on a pair of Radtke kills. The Rockets earned set point at 24-20 on a solo block by Kleespies, but the Huskies fought off three set points to get within one 24-23. Toledo took the set 25-23 on a Kleespies kill to tie the match 1-1.

NIU took an early 5-3 lead in the third set on a pair of blocks by McAlpin and Balensiefer. The lead grew to three at 7-4 following consecutive kills from Wolowicz and Radtke. Radtke then had a kill and a subsequent ace to start a 6-1 run that put NIU ahead 16-9. Kelsy Turskey (Prairie Grove, Ill./Prairie Ridge) capped the run with an ace as Toledo called both of its timeouts in that stretch. NIU led by as much as eight in the set before an Alexis Falzone block capped a 4-0 Rockets run that cut the lead in half, 20-16. NIU took over from there, winning the last five points of the set take it 25-16 and go up 2-1 in the match. The Huskies had all five of their aces in the match in the third set, as well as five of their nine blocks.

"It happens, individually, where some people might not have one area of their game as strong as another but they can bring it from other areas," Gooden said. "Our offense wasn't as strong or efficient as we wanted it to be, but we scored in other areas with our block and our serve. When we got some rhythm again, it all came together especially in the fourth set."

The Huskies got out to an 8-2 lead to start the fourth, as a Milbrath kill capped a 4-0 run that put NIU ahead by six. After Toledo got within three, 8-5, a Wolowicz kill started a 4-1 NIU run that put the Huskies ahead 12-6. The Rockets closed the gap the four at 16-12, but a Wolowicz solo block started a 4-0 NIU run that put the Huskies up by eight at 20-12. Toledo only got as close as seven the rest of the way, as Wolowicz's 16th and final kill of the night gave NIU the fourth set 25-15 and the match 3-1.

NIU hit .256 for the match, holding Toledo to .086. The Huskies hit .382 in the final set and held the Rockets to an .028 hitting percentage over the final two sets. NIU held a 64-61 advantage in digs and a 9-8 edge in blocks. Kleespies led Toledo with 12 kills as libero Maurissa Leonard had 18 digs.

"To be 2-2 on this stretch of five road matches is awesome," Gooden said. "If we can pull out one more, that would be great."

The Huskies close out their current five-match road trip on Wednesday, Oct. 31 with a 6 p.m. match at Western Michigan.

—NIU—