KENT, OH – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team lost 3-0 (24-26, 25-27, 25-27) on Saturday afternoon to the Kent State Golden Flashes at the M.A.C. Center. It's the fourth consecutive series split for the Huskies.
 
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led all players in the match with 16 kills. Freshman Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) flirted with a triple-double, putting down eight kills with 12 assists and 13 digs. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) dished out 30 assists with 10 digs.
 
Kent State (12-6, 12-6 MAC) and NIU battled to a 10-10 tie in the opening set. The Golden Flashes got two kills from Morgan Copley to take a 13-11 lead. The Golden Flashes grew their lead to three at 16-13 following a block by Lana Strejcek and Melissa Kolurbasi. NIU trailed 21-18 when a Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) kill kickstarted a 5-0 Huskies run that put NIU ahead 23-21. The Golden Flashes answered with the next three points, earning set point at 24-23 on their fourth block of the set. Mihacevich put down a kill to tie the set at 24 but an NIU error and a Kent State block gave the Golden Flashes set one 26-24.
 
NIU (8-11, 8-11 MAC) got out to a fast start in set two, starting on a 5-1 run capped by a block from JoDee Kovanda (Lockport, Ill./West Florida) and Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper). The Golden Flashes cut the Huskies' lead in half when a Savannah Matthews kill made the score 6-4. A Kovanda kill then started a 7-1 run that gave NIU a 13-5 lead. Sparked by back-to-back Copley kills, Kent State went on a 7-3 run to get within three at 20-17. The Huskies led 23-18 when the Golden Flashes went on a 7-1 run to earn set point at 25-24. NIU tied the set at 25 but a Maluhia Ma'a kill and an ace from Danie Tyson gave Kent State a 27-25 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The two teams traded points early and often in the third, playing to an 11-11 tie following a Jablonski kill. Kent State broke the tie with a 5-0 run as an Amelia Perdue ace and a Matthews kill put the Golden Flashes ahead 16-11. The Huskies rallied back with an 8-2 run highlighted by a pair of Wallace kills to take a 20-19 lead. NIU earned set point at 24-23 on a Jablonski kill, but back-to-back kills from Kolurbasi gave Kent State match point at 25-24. Kemp tied the set at 25 with a kill. The Golden Flashes earned a second match point on a Kolurbasi kill to make the score 26-25, then won the set 27-25 on an NIU error to complete the sweep.
 
"We did some really good things at times today but couldn't see it through all the way to the end of a set," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Last night we had to make some big plays in order to win the close sets, including match point. Today we were not able to do it and Kent was able to take advantage of the opportunity to come back and pull those sets out."
 
NIU held Kent State to a .179 hitting percentage but hit just .148 for the match. The Golden Flashes held a 62-60 advantage in digs and an 8.0-7.0 edge in blocks. Kolurbasi led Kent State with 12 kills.
 
The Huskies wrap up their current stretch of five matches on the road out of six on Tuesday, March 23 with a 5 p.m. matchup at Western Michigan.
 
--NIU--