BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team lost in five sets 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 9-15) Saturday afternoon to the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers at the WKU Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.
 
Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) was named to the All-Tournament Team after Saturday's match. The senior led NIU with 18 kills and added a season-high five blocks. In three matches this weekend, Wolowicz averaged 4.27 kills per set while hitting .224. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) had a double-double Saturday with 13 kills and 15 digs. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a career-high 44 assists as Destiny Deyro (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) had a career-high in digs with 13. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led the Huskies with 27 digs.
 
WKU (8-5) jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the first set, getting three kills from Rachel Anderson. The Huskies chipped away at the Lady Toppers' lead, with a Kelsy Turskey (Prairie Grove, Ill./Prairie Ridge) ace making the score 17-13. WKU grew the lead back to six at 22-16 on a Hallie Shelton kill. NIU got within five points twice late in the set, but an Anderson kill put the Lady Toppers up 1-0 with a 25-19 win in set one.
 
NIU (2-13) bounced back from the set one defeat by starting the second set with an 11-4 run. Radtke had three kills during that stretch and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) was in on two blocks. The Huskies extended their lead to eight at 18-10 on back-to-back kills by Kemp and Radtke, and to nine at 21-12 on a Turskey ace. NIU won the set 25-17 after consecutive kills by Wolowicz and Radtke. The Huskies hit .212 in the set, holding WKU to a -.025.
 
The third set was back-and-forth with nine ties and six lead changes. WKU used kills by Shelton and Anderson to take a three-point lead at 16-13. NIU used kills by Wolowicz and Radtke to spark an 8-0 run to put the Huskies ahead 21-16. The Lady Toppers got to within one at 22-21 after back-to-back kills by Sophia Cerino and Katie Shunk. NIU earned set point at 24-21 after a Wolowicz kill and a block by Wolowicz and Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard). After WKU closed the gap to 24-22 on a Katie Isenbarger kill, a service error gave NIU the set 25-22 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Lady Toppers opened the fourth set on a 4-0 run capped off by a Shelton solo block. NIU responded with a 5-1 run that included a Deyro ace to tie the set 5-5. WKU took a 9-6 lead after back-to-back Huskie errors. NIU cut the deficit to one at 11-10 on a McAlpin kill, but the Lady Toppers went on a 7-1 run to go up 18-11. The Huskies were able to get within four at 19-15, but WKU pulled away and won the set 25-18 to force a deciding fifth set.
 
Just like the set prior, WKU opened the fifth with a 4-0 run on three Cerino kills. NIU got a pair of kills from Radtke to get within two at 5-3. The Lady Toppers got consecutive kills from Taylor Bebout and Kayland Jackson to take a 9-4 lead and prompt an NIU timeout. The Huskies cut the deficit to three at three different times late in the set, with a McAlpin kill making the score 12-9. Cerino put the match away for WKU, scoring the last three points on kills to win the set 15-9 and the match 3-2.
"It was good to see the fight in our group," said head coach Ray Gooden following Saturday's match. "Today was a tough battle against a perennial NCAA Tournament team and ranked in the mid-major polls. I thought we played solid floor defense and blocked well."
 
The Huskies open Mid-American Conference play on Friday, Sept. 21 against Toledo at Victor E. Court. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
--NIU--