DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team came back 2-1 down to force a fifth set Saturday night against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Victor E. Court, but it was the visitors that took the match 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-10) to salvage a split of this weekend's Mid-American Conference series.
 
"We knew Eastern was going to come in and play really hard because they were looking for a win," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We just couldn't get that energy we needed in that first set. I thought we played better as the match went on. It was just an up-and-down night for us."
 
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) became the first Huskie since Lauren Wicinski in 2011 to have seven service aces in a match, one shy of tying the program single-match record. She also had eight kills, five assists, three digs and two blocks.
 
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led the Huskies on the night with 15 kills, adding 12 digs. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) hit a match-high 455 with 13 kills and two blocks. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 41 assists and a match-high 18 digs.
 
Down 2-1 entering the fourth set, NIU (8-7, 2-3 MAC) used a 7-0 run on the serve of Mihacevich to take an 8-3 lead. The lead grew to eight at 15-7 following two Balensiefer aces and a kill by Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto). The Eagles closed within five at 21-16 on a block by Samantha Basham and Madeline Timmerman. NIU responded with a kill by Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) and by forcing an Eastern Michigan error to take a 23-16 lead. The Huskies won the set 25-19 on a Bell kill to force a deciding fifth set.
 
Eastern Michigan (6-9, 1-3 MAC) got a pair of Annie Lockett kills to start the final set with a 3-0 lead. NIU got within two at 6-4 on an Atiemo kill, but a Basham kill started another 3-0 run for the Eagles that put the visitors ahead 9-4. The Huskies got within three points three different times in the set, including at 13-10 on an Atiemo kill. Eastern Michigan put the match away with the final two of Basham's 20 kills on the night to win the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
 
"We have to work on being more consistent," Gooden said. "We're going through a tough part of the schedule right now. It would have been nice to go 2-0 on the weekend, but we got one and now we go back on the road for four more. We've got to continue to battle and play together."
 
NIU's best offensive set came in the second after Eastern Michigan took the opener 25-16. With the Eagles leading 3-1, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. Mihacevich accounted for the final five points of the run with a kill and four aces. Her fifth ace of the set put NIU ahead 19-15, leading to an Eagles timeout. NIU won the set 25-17, hitting .257 with 15 kills.
 
Eastern Michigan hit .206 to NIU's .143 on the night. NIU held an 11-5 advantage in aces and a 72-61 edge in digs. The Eagles had 14 blocks to NIU's five, with Raeven Chase accounting for nine.
 
NIU goes on the road next weekend for matches at Bowling Green and Miami. The Huskies take on Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--