DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team wrapped up the regular season Saturday night with a 3-1 (23-25, 17-25, 25-19, 21-25) loss to the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Victor E. Court.
 
"We had two really challenging matches this weekend," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Division matches are always that way. We battled, and we're still learning how to battle and how to battle for a long period of time. There's still room for us to grow and get better. It was nice for us to get one win on the weekend. It would have been nice to close the homestand on a positive note, but I hope it helps us realize that there's more to be played and we need to play at a high level especially at this time of year."
 
Prior to the match, NIU honored seniors Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln), Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard), and Autumn Martin (Tyrone, Ga./FIU) for Senior Night. Wolowicz led the Huskies with 19 kills Saturday night, adding 10 digs and four blocks. Martin tied a career-high with 12 kills, hitting .258 for the match. McAlpin had five kills in seven attempts to hit .714 and had a pair of blocks.
 
NIU (11-20, 9-7 MAC) got off to a fast start in the first set, taking the first three points on a Wolowicz kill and two Martin aces. Eastern Michigan responded by taking four of the next five points, as a Jordan Smith kill tied the set at 4. NIU took the lead back on kill by Wolowicz, Martin, and McAlpin to take an 8-6 lead. The Huskies led 9-7 when an Ariel Hamby kill started a 6-0 Eagles run that put the visitors ahead 14-11. Eastern Michigan extended its lead to five at 17-12 following kills by Smith and Cassie Haut. The Huskies used a 5-1 run to get within one when a block by Wolowicz and Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) made the score 21-20. NIU was able to fight off one Eastern Michigan set point, but a Haut kill gave the Eagles a 25-23 win in the opening stanza.
 
Eastern Michigan (17-13, 9-7 MAC) used a 6-0 run early in the second set to take a 9-5 lead. Smith had two kills and a block in that stretch. Two kills by Martin and a block got the Huskies within two at 10-8. The Eagles pulled away with a 9-3 run, sparked by a Mallory Rajewski kill, to take a 19-11 advantage. NIU got as close as five at 19-14, but the Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-17 win in set two.
 
With their backs against the wall, NIU came out firing in set three. Powered by two kills and an ace by Wolowicz, the Huskies started the set on an 8-2 run. Eastern Michigan went on a 4-1 run to get within three at 9-6. NIU extended its lead to five at 15-10 on a block by Wallace and Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State). The Eagles closed the gap to two at 15-13 when a Mackenzie Garis ace capped a three-point Eastern Michigan run. NIU then won seven of the next nine points, with kills by Wolowicz, Wallace, and Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) putting NIU ahead 23-16. The Huskies won the set 25-19 to stay in the match.
 
NIU bounced back from an early deficit in the fourth set to take a 6-5 lead. A Wallace kill capped off a 4-0 Huskies run to give them an advantage. The two sides traded points up to 15-15. A Smith kill started a 4-1 Eagles run to put Eastern Michigan ahead 19-16. Wolowicz followed with a kill to make the score 19-17, but back-to-back Ariel Hamby kills gave Eastern Michigan a 21-17 lead. NIU fought off two match points late, but Smith's 27^th kill of the match gave the Eagles the fourth set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
 
Eastern Michigan hit .271 for the match, and .390 in the final set. NIU hit .193 on the night and held a 9-3 advantage on blocks. Wallace led the match with seven blocks, while Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led all players with 26 digs.
 
"Eastern has good balance and are very physical," said Gooden. "They also played really good defense and kept us fighting and needing to scrap to win every single point. That's what we're going to need, not only in our division, but in the conference tournament. We need to see really good, and they were really good tonight."
 
NIU finished Mid-American Conference play tied with Eastern Michigan for fifth place at 9-7. With the Eagles taking both matches in the season series, Eastern Michigan will be the fifth seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament with the Huskies sixth.
 
NIU will take on Ohio in the first round of the MAC Tournament, hosted by Miami, on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Huskies won in five sets at Ohio on Oct. 20 in the only meeting between the two programs this season.
 
--NIU--