KALAMAZOO, MI – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team lost 3-0 (13-25, 18-25, 23-25) Tuesday night to the Western Michigan Broncos at University Arena.
 
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) led the Huskies with nine kills and three blocks on the night, hitting .615 for the match. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) had eight kills and six digs as Angie Gromos (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) contributed six kills off the bench. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 28 assists as Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) led all players with 11 digs.
 
"Jasmine had an energy and an air about her in warmups," said head coach Ray Gooden. "She was locked in and in a zone. I'm confident this was one of her best matches as a Huskie. It's a testament to her level of work and how she prepared for the match."
 
NIU (8-12, 8-12 MAC) and Western Michigan traded points to start the match, but the Broncos took 6-3 lead in set one on kills from Rachel Bontrager and Cassandra Smigiel. The Broncos led 10-7 when kills from Jablonski and Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) got the Huskies within two, 11-9. Western Michigan pulled away on a 10-2 run capped by an Andelyn Simkins ace and a Maggie King kill that made the score 21-11. The Broncos hit .483 in the opening set and won it 25-13 on a Charley Andrews kill.
 
Western Michigan (15-4, 15-4 MAC) opened the second set on a 4-0 run sparked by two Andrews kills, and took a 7-2 lead on a Bontrager kill. Back-to-back kills from Kemp got Huskies within three, 7-4, but an NIU error and Bontrager ace put the Broncos ahead 9-4. Jablonski put down a pair of kills to get NIU within four at 15-11. Western Michigan responded with a 5-2 run to go up 20-13 on a Meredith Phillips kill.  NIU got within five late in the set when Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) capped a 3-0 run with an ace to make the score 22-17. The Broncos closed the set by winning three of the last four sets to take it 25-18 and go up 2-0 in the match.
 
NIU got out to a 4-2 lead in the third set on a JoDee Kovanda (Lockport, Ill./West Florida) kill. Western Michigan came back with a 4-1 lead to take a 6-5 advantage on kills from Bontrager and Phillips. The Huskies took back the lead at 7-6 on a Broncos error and Jablonski kill. The two teams traded points up to 14-14 when a Gromos kill started a 3-0 NIU run that put NIU ahead 17-14. Western Michigan answered that run with a 6-2 run punctuated by a Kaley Smith ace to take a 20-19 lead. The Huskies took back the lead at 22-21 on a block by Kemp and Kovanda. The Broncos then won the next three points to earn match point at 24-22. NIU fought off one match point but a Phillips kill gave Western Michigan the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.
 
"We got off to a slow start and to play with a team at Western's level to have to be on," Gooden said. "We got better as the match went on. For us it's just about competing. A lot of this year has been about learning to compete. We've shown flashes of it but in order to be one of the top teams in our league, the light has to shine a lot brighter."
 
King led all players in the match with 13 kills as Bontrager added 12.
 
NIU closes the regular season at Victor E. Court this weekend with a two-match series against the Ohio Bobcats starting on Friday, March 26 at 4 p.m.
 
--NIU--