YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team lost its second straight Mid-American Conference match Friday night, falling 3-0 (17-25, 16-25, 17-25) to the Eastern Michigan Eagles at the EMU Convocation Center.
 
"Eastern did a good job of putting pressure on us," said head coach Ray Gooden following Friday's match. "The times we did some positive things, we just needed to string more points together. They did a really good job of being a step ahead of us all night long."
 
Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) led the Huskies with five kills and added seven digs. Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) and Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State) each added four. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 11 assists as reigning MAC West Defensive Player of the Week Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) recorded 13 digs.
 
Eastern Michigan (12-7, 4-1 MAC) opened the match on a 3-0 run punctuated by Cassie Haut ace. NIU responded with a 4-0 run, as kills by Radtke and Kemp and two Wolowicz aces put the Huskies ahead by one. The Eagles came back with a 5-1 run kickstarted by two Jordan Smith kills to put Eastern Michigan up 8-5. The Huskies closed to within one at 9-8, but the Eagles took nine of the next 11 points as three more Smith kills put Eastern Michigan ahead by eight, 18-10. NIU used a 3-1 run highlighted by a Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) kill to get back within six at 19-13. That would be as close as the Huskies would get. The Eagles hit .593 in the opening set to win it 25-17.
 
Much like the first set, NIU (5-15, 3-2 MAC) was slow out of the gates to start the second. The Huskies fell behind 4-1 with Radtke providing the lone kill. Eastern Michigan eventually took a 9-3 lead before an NIU timeout stopped the Eagles' momentum. NIU crept back into the match at 12-7 when a block by Milbrath and Kemp cut the deficit to five. The Huskies closed to within four at 15-11 following a Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) kill and a block by Wallace and Rullan Vilanova. The Eagles pulled away with a 4-1 run as two Ariel Hamby kills made the score 19-12. A pair of Smith kills put Eastern Michigan ahead 2-0 in the match as the Eagles won the second set 25-16.
 
The Huskies started the third set on a 5-2 run, getting a pair of kills from Wolowicz. Eastern Michigan turned around and won the next nine points to take an 11-5 lead. NIU then went on a 5-1 run, as a Radtke kill made the score 12-10. The Eagles grew their lead to six at 18-12 after a pair of Haut kills. Rullan Vilanova answered with two kills of her own to get NIU back within four at 19-15. A Smith kill sparked a 6-2 Eastern Michigan run that clinched the set and the match. A Franki Strefling kill gave the Eagles a 25-17 win in the third and a 3-0 sweep of the match.
 
"We couldn't find our rhythm tonight," Gooden said. "Eastern did a good job with their serving and blocking. They played a complete game tonight against us. It's one of those matches where you have to understand how tough it is to play on the road. We have to get ourselves prepared for another tough match tomorrow. It's our goal to steal one on the road as much as we can. Tonight was a tough one, but we have another opportunity tomorrow to make up for whatever we didn't have tonight."
 
The Huskies close out their current stretch of three straight road matches on Saturday night at 6 p.m. at Central Michigan.
 
--NIU--