MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Led by 25 kills from senior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln), the Northern Illinois University volleyball team earned a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22) win over the Central Michigan Chippewas at McGuirk Arena Saturday night.
 
Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) had a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs, hitting .292 for the match. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) led the Huskies with 29 assists and added eight digs. Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) led the match with a career-high seven blocks, as NIU tied a season-high with 15.0 blocks. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Ind./Evansville) led NIU with 17 digs.
 
"People knew they had to step up in certain areas and it was good for us to put ourselves in spots for them to be successful tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden.
 
Central Michigan (3-15, 0-6 MAC) jumped to a 4-1 lead in the opening set on kills by Maddie Whitfield, Savannah Thompson, and Kalina Smith. NIU cut the deficit to one at 5-4 after a pair of Wolowicz kills. After falling behind 8-5, the Huskies tied the match 8-8 on two Radtke kills and a solo block by Wallace. NIU battled back from a another three-point deficit with a pair of blocks by Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) and Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) to tie the set 16-16.
 
NIU (6-15, 4-2 MAC) took the lead at 22-21 after its fifth block of the set. The Chippewas then ran off the next three points, with a Huskie error giving Central Michigan set point at 24-22. NIU fought off both set points with a Wolowicz kill tying the set at 24. Wolowicz then gave NIU a set point at 25-24 with her sixth kill of the opening set. Her seventh kill capped a 4-0 run for the Huskies, giving them the opening set 26-24.
 
The Chippewas started the second set like they did in the first, going on a 4-1 run capped by a Whitfield kill. The Huskies cut the deficit to two, 6-4, on a McAlpin kill. Radtke got NIU within one with a kill at 8-7, but Central Michigan won the next five points to take a 13-7 lead and force a Huskies timeout. The lead grew to nine at 19-10, as back-to-back kills by Jayla Wesley and Megan Sivertsen forced another NIU timeout. NIU then went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Radtke kill, to get within two at 19-17. Central Michigan grew the lead to four at 22-18 on a block by Whitfield and Savannah Thompson. The Chippewas took the set 25-21 on a Thompson kill, tying the match at one set each.
 
Central Michigan hit .750 to open the third set, taking a 7-3 lead on three straight kills from Sivertsen, Thompson, and Whitfield. NIU used a Radtke kill and Karlen service ace to win five of the next six points to get within two, 8-6. The Chippewas extended their lead to five at 12-7 on a Thompson kill. Sparked by a block by Wallace and Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State), the Huskies won four of the next five points to get within two at 13-11. NIU took its first lead of the set at 19-15, when a Wolowicz kill and ace sparked a 6-0 Huskies run. The lead grew to as much as six when a Central Michigan error made the score 24-18. The Chippewas fought off three set points, but a Radtke kill put NIU up 2-1 in the match with a 25-21 win in set three.
 
The Huskies rode the momentum into the fourth set, taking an early 6-1 lead on two Wolowicz kills and two blocks by Wolowicz and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb). The lead grew to 10-1 after a Balensiefer ace, Wolowicz kill, and block by Kemp and Milbrath.
 
"It was good to jump out to that big lead, but we knew it was far from over," Gooden said. "We were down 19-10 in the second and battled back and that's when I knew we were never too far ahead or too far behind. We had a lead and Central came charging back. They played a match last night where they were down nine and came charging back, so we knew we had to keep playing. Credit to them for their fight, but credit to our group for winning the points we needed to win."
 
Central Michigan ran off six straight points to get within four at 11-7, getting two kills from Kendall Braate in the process. NIU grew the advantage back to six as kills by Wolowicz and Radtke made the score 13-7. The Chippewas got to within two at 17-15, getting three kills from Lyza Myers. The two teams then traded points up to 22-19 when a Myers kill and NIU error put Central Michigan within one at 22-21. The Huskies got back up by two, 23-21, on a block by Wolowicz and Wallace. NIU put the set, and the match, away with a pair of Wolowicz kills to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
 
"I thought we came together as a group tonight," said Gooden. "We did a nice job of playing team volleyball. It may not have been the best, but we played together as a unit."
 
NIU hit .202 as a team, holding Central Michigan to a .181 mark. The Huskies outblocked the Chippewas 15.0-4.0 and had five aces. Thompson led Central Michigan with 15 kills, adding 19 digs.
 
The Huskies return to Victor E. Court on Friday, Oct. 12 for a 7 p.m match against Akron.
 
--NIU--