DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team battled its way to a 3-1 (29-27, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22) win over the Toledo Rockets Friday night at Victor E. Court in the first of two matches this weekend.
 
"Our group fed off the energy of the crowd and played some solid and gritty volleyball tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We won the right points at the right times. We had people step up and make critical plays when we needed them to. Stella Barr had a great night and had some big blocks for us."
 
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led the Huskies with 16 kills, adding 15 digs. Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) added 10 kills and a team-high four blocks. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) and Stella Barr (Elmhurst, Ill./York) each had eight kills, which were a season-high for Barr. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) paced the NIU offense with 44 assists and added 12 digs and two blocks.
 
NIU (10-10, 4-6 MAC) used a 3-0 run on kills from Jablonski, Atiemo and Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) to take an 8-7 lead in the opening set. The Huskies took a two-point lead at 12-10 on a Barr kill and traded points with the Rockets up to 15-13. A Taylor Alt kill and a Huskie error tied the set at 15. NIU took a two-point lead again at 21-19 but a Sinalauli'I Uluave kill started a 4-1 Toledo run that put the visitors ahead 23-22. The Rockets earned set point at 24-23 on a Rhyenne Filisi kill. However, Jablonski put down a kill to tie the set at 24. Down 27-26, NIU tied the set at 27 on a Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kill. The Huskies earned their first set point at 28-27 on a block by Barr and Nedic and cashed it in with another Nedic kill to take it 29-27.
 
Toledo (15-7, 6-4 MAC) got out a 3-0 lead in set two, but NIU came back to tie the set 5-5 on a Barr kill. The Rockets then went on a 5-1 run capped by an Uluave kill to take a 10-6 lead. NIU responded with a 6-1 run highlighted by a Jablonski ace to take a 12-11 lead. Toledo tied the set at 12 and eventually took a three-point lead at 20-17. NIU won the next four points as a block by Atiemo and Balensiefer put the Huskies ahead 21-20. The two teams traded points until an Atiemo kill started a 4-0 NIU run that gave the Huskies the set 25-22 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
"We had to work hard in the middle of those two sets, from 10 to 20," Gooden said. "I thought we did a good job of staying close up to 20 and making those runs  and positive plays to get to end up on the good side of those sets."
 
The Rockets built a 10-7 lead in the lead on back-to-back blocks by Elane Redman and Abby Erickson. The Huskies got within two but an Alt kill started a 5-1 Toledo run that put the visitors up 17-11. NIU got as close as two points twice, including fighting off a pair of set points with a Bell kill and a block to make the score 24-22. Alt's fifth kill of the set gave Toledo a 25-22 win and kept the Rockets alive in the match.
 
NIU rebounded from a 4-1 deficit in the fourth to take an 8-5 lead on a block by Atiemo and Bell. Toledo took back the lead at 12-11 on an Uluave kill. The Huskies then won five of the next six points to take a 16-13 lead on a Jablonski kill. The Rockets got within one at 20-19 on kills from Alt and Uluave. The two sides then traded points up to 23-22. Jablonski put down a kill to give NIU match point at 24-22. Atiemo then put the match away with her 10^th and final kill of the night, giving NIU a 25-22 set win and the match 3-1.
 
"We had a lot of good energy and both teams were scrapping hard," said Jablonski, who posted her 11^th double-double of the season in the victory. "It was a really fun match to play. We just tried to remain as consistent as we could and just try to get a let up on them."
 
The two teams wrap up their weekend series on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
--NIU--