Box Score DeKALB, IL - Led by a career-high 21 kills from junior Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper), the Northern Illinois University volleyball team closed the NIU Invitational with a 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 28-26, 16-25, 15-13) win over the UC Riverside Highlanders at Victor E. Court.
 
Wallace's previous career-high for kills was 11 set last season against Georgia Tech. She hit .417 in the match with a team-high three blocks. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after putting down 16 kills and hitting .375. NIU had four players in double-digit kills Saturday. Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) had 12 kills with Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) adding 10.
 
NIU (2-1) battled to win each of their three sets, winning each by two points. The Huskies broke a 14-14 tie in the opening set with a 7-2 run capped by a pair of Milbrath kills to go up 21-16. UC Riverside came back with a 7-1 run highlighted by back-to-back Ashley Dittmann kills to take a 23-22 lead. The Huskies fought off two set points and got a pair of Tilly kills to take the opening set 27-25.
 
UC Riverside (2-1) leveled the match at a set apiece with a 25-17 win in the second set. The Highlanders hit .400 in the second led by five kills from Alexis Vanlandingham. NIU had to rally from three points down in the third to tie it at 22 on a Wallace kill. The Huskies earned set point at 24-23 on another Wallace swing, but a service error tied the set at 24. The Highlanders then won two of the next three points to earn a set point opportunity at 26-25. Kills by Milbrath and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) gave NIU another shot at winning the set at 27-26, and an UC Riverside error put NIU up 2-1 in the match with a 28-26 win in set three.
 
The Highlanders' offense came alive in the fourth set. UC Riverside hit .406 with one error to win it 25-16 and force a deciding fifth set. The Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fifth, getting kills from Bell and Wallace and a pair of UC Riverside errors. The Highlanders came back to tie the set 7-7 on a Dittmann kill. NIU responded with a block by Kemp and Milbrath and a Wallace kill to take a 9-7 lead. The Huskies led 10-8 when back-to-back kills by Vanlandingham and Dittmann tied the set at 10. After trading the next two points, Bell put down two straight kills to give NIU a 13-11 lead. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) gave NIU match point with a kill at 14-12. After a service error, Bell put down the match-winning kill to give the Huskies the fifth set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
NIU hit .265 in the match to UC Riverside's .347. The Huskies held a 59-50 advantage in digs, led by Miranda Karlen's (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) 20. Balensiefer tied a career-high with 60 assists. Dittmann led all players with 23 kills.
 
The Huskies go on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 3 for the 6 p.m. match at Chicago State.
 
—NIU—