DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team won its third straight match Friday night, defeating the Buffalo Bulls 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11) to get one step closer to locking up the sixth and final berth into the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament.
 
"We knew we were in for a battle tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Buffalo has been battling and improving. It was great for us to get off to a good start but give Buffalo credit for continuing to fight and pushing us to the limit. Our group hung in there and played positive volleyball at the end."
 
NIU (14-12, 8-8 MAC) had four players tally double-digit kills in the win. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) and Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) led the way with 16 apiece. Jablonski added 11 digs for a double-double as Atiemo had five blocks. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) had a season-high 14 kills and hit .333. Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had a career-high six blocks to go with 11 kills. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) ran the NIU offense to the tune of 54 assists, adding 12 digs.
 
The Huskies and Bulls played to a 5-5 tie to start the deciding set. A kill by Atiemo and a Buffalo error gave NIU a 7-5 advantage. NIU led 9-7 when the Bulls got kills from Maria Futey and Courtney Okwara to level the set at nine. A kill from Jablonski broke the tie and the Huskies followed that with a block by Mihacevich and Atiemo and a Bulls error to take a 12-9 lead. NIU grew its lead to four when a Mihacevich ace gave the Huskies set and match point at 14-9. Buffalo fought off one match point but Atiemo put the match away with her 16^th kill, giving the Huskies the 15-11 set win and the five-set match victory.
 
"We win with defense and togetherness," Gooden said. "Our defense picked it up at the end and we scrapped a little better and played well together at the end. Our backline of Miranda [Karlen], Franki [Bertucci] and Sam [Juarez] did whatever it took to keep points alive, which led to our offense having the showing it did tonight."
 
NIU was firing on all cylinders to open the match, hitting .481 in the opening set with just one error. The Huskies used a 6-1 run that included four kills from Mihacevich and Jablonski to take a 6-2 lead. A block by Mihacevich and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) capped a 5-0 NIU run that put the home team ahead 13-5. The Huskies led by as much 10 twice in the set, with back-to-back kills from Jablonski and Mihacevich putting NIU ahead 20-10. The Bulls did make things interesting late, getting within three at 24-21 on an Olivia DeBortoli kill but Bell put the set away with a kill to make the score 25-21.
 
Set two featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. Buffalo (12-16, 5-11 MAC) used a 7-2 run to take a 15-11 lead following an Emma Gielas ace. NIU responded with a 7-2 run of its own, punctuated by a block by Mihacevich and Kemp, to take a 19-17 lead. The Bulls came back to take a 24-23 lead, only to see Atiemo tie the set at 24 with a kill. Buffalo took the set 26-24 on a kill and an ace from Maria Futey.
 
The Huskies took a 6-4 lead in set three on kills from Atiemo and Jablonski. NIU led 9-7 when a Milla Malik kill sparked a 4-0 Buffalo run that put the Bulls up 11-9. The Huskies then won four straight points to take a 13-11 lead on a Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) ace. The lead grew to four at 21-17 on kills from Jablonski and Atiemo. NIU had 21 kills in the third set alone, hitting .347 in the frame. The Huskies took the set 25-22 to go up 2-1 in the match. Buffalo forced a fifth set by holding NIU to a .000 hitting percentage to win the fourth 25-13.
 
NIU's win moved their magic number to one to clinch the final spot into the MAC Tournament. One more Huskies win or Central Michigan loss will send the Huskies to the postseason for the first time since 2018. NIU hit .273 in the match to Buffalo's .271. Buffalo held a 72-69 advantage in digs and a slim 10-9 edge in blocks. Bertucci led all players with 20 digs in the match, adding three aces. Courtney Okwara led the Bulls with 17 kills as Futey added 15 kills with 13 digs.
 
The Huskies wrap up their series with Buffalo Saturday night at 6 p.m. Prior to the match, NIU will honor seniors Grace Balensiefer, Angie Gromos, Miranda Karlen and Jasmine Kemp for Senior Night.
 
--NIU--