DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Wednesday night at Victor E. Court. However, it was the Redhawks who came away with the 3-2 win (25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 16-14).
 
"We've been battling all year and putting ourselves in spots where we can play to 20 and do some positive things," said head coach Ray Gooden. "A lot of it is just having the composure to make the critical play."
 
Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) led all players with 22 kills, adding 11 digs and a pair of aces. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) set a new career-high in digs for the second straight match with 22 to go with 13 kills. Autumn Martin (Tyrone, Ga./FIU) had her first career double-double. The senior came off the bench to record a career-high 10 kills and 12 digs. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a season-high 38 assists and added 11 digs. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led all players with 28 digs.
 
Southeast Missouri (8-5) won the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-22. The Redhawks used a 4-0 run to break an 8-8 tie in the opener to take a 12-8 lead. Sparked by a Krista Berns solo block, Southeast Missouri ended the first set on a 7-2 run to win it 25-16. NIU battled out of an early 4-2 deficit in the second to take an 11-8 lead on a Balensiefer kill. The lead grew to five as back-to-back Radtke kills made the score 17-12. Southeast Missouri responded with a 6-1 run, capped off by a Madara Bajare kill, to tie the set 18-18. The two sides traded points up to 22-22 when a pair of Haley Bilbruck kills powered a 3-0 Redhawks run to give them the second set 25-22.
 
NIU (2-10) used a four-point run early in the third set to take a 7-6 lead. The Huskies then took a 13-11 lead on a kill by Martin. After the Redhawks tied the set 13-13, NIU got kills from Wolowicz, Martin, and Radtke to take an 18-15 lead. The Huskies took their largest lead of the set at 21-17 on a Southeast Missouri error and was able to trade points the rest of the way. Radtke's fourth kill of the set gave NIU its first set win as the Huskies took the third 25-21 and got within a set of Southeast Missouri.
 
"We were trying to pump each other up between sets two and three," said Wolowicz. "We knew that if we were going to come out and win, we'd have a long night ahead of us. We just wanted to go ahead and get that third set."
 
The fourth set was a close back-and-forth affair with 15 ties and four lead changes. The two teams traded three-point runs to open the frame, and each had a two-point lead early. After a Redhawks service error tied the set 10-10, neither team had more than a one point lead until 20-20. The Huskies broke that tie with a Wolowicz kill, then got a Southeast Missouri error to go ahead 22-20. The Redhawks got back within one at 22-21 on a Bilbruck kill, but NIU took the next three points as a Balensiefer kill gave the Huskies the set 25-21 and forced a fifth and deciding set.
 
NIU and Southeast Missouri traded the first nine points of the fifth, with the Huskies taking a 5-4 lead. The Redhawks won the next three points as kills by Berns, Bilbruck, and Laney Malloy gave Southeast Missouri a 7-5 lead. Powered by two aces from Destiny Deyro (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South), NIU went on a 5-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. Southeast Missouri cut the deficit to one at 10-9 on a Berns kill, but a Martin kill and a Huskies block put NIU up by two 12-10. The Redhawks tied the set at 13-13 on a Bilbruck kill and a block by Mallow and Maggie Adams.
 
The Huskies followed with a block of their own to earn match point at 14-13. A service error tied the set at 14-14. Southeast Missouri then took the lead, 15-14, on an NIU miscue that prompted a timeout. The Redhawks converted their match point with an Ally Dion service ace to win the set 16-14 and the match 3-2.
 
Southeast Missouri hit .204 for the match while the Huskies hit .118. The Redhawks held a 13-8 edge in blocks while NIU held a 94-90 edge in digs. Malloy led Southeast Missouri with 16 kills and 19 digs. Setter Claire Ochs had 48 assists and 17 digs.
 
"Right now it's a matter of being complete," Gooden said. "The thing that's happening right now against these teams that I like, and might be tough to realize, is that we have to earn everything. All of our non-conference opponents are all competitive teams and they'll do well in their conferences. It'll be no different this weekend playing against ranked teams and top teams in the country. We have to earn everything and the more we realize that, the more it'll help us when we get in the league."
 
NIU wraps up non-conference play this weekend at the WKU Tournament, hosted by Western Kentucky. The Huskies take on #22 Washington State on Friday, Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. followed by a 4:30 p.m. match against East Tennessee State. NIU will then take on the host Lady Toppers on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 1:30 p.m.
 
--NIU--