KALAMAZOO, MI – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team had one of it's better offensive showings of the season on Tuesday night, but it was not enough to get past the Western Michigan Broncos in a 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 23-25, 21-25) loss at University Arena.
 
"The match was a really good volleyball match," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Both teams did some really good things. We had individuals that had some wonderful performances. We just didn't execute at critical times. Credit to Western for winning some key points in the middle of sets two and three to force us to chase, and while we did fight back, we still needed to play with more consistency to pull those sets out to win."
 
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) had a double-double for the third consecutive match, putting down a team-high 14 kills with 15 digs. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) also had a double-double with a season-high 57 assists and 14 digs. Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) each had 13 kills with Atiemo hitting .458 for the match.
 
NIU (7-6, 1-2 MAC) got out of an early 5-2 deficit in the opening set with a 4-0 run, as a block by Atiemo and Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) giving the Huskies' a 6-5 lead. Western Michigan won three of the next four points to take an 8-7 lead on kills by Andelyn Simkins and Madison Merz. That would be the Broncos last lead of the set. The Huskies won the next 12 points to take a 20-8 lead. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) had four blocks and three kills in that stretch with Mihacevich adding three kills. NIU hit .429 in the set to win it 25-12, recording five blocks in holding the Broncos to a .026 hitting mark.
 
"I knew we needed to have a fast start, especially when playing one of the best teams in our league at their place on a short turnaround," Gooden said. "The start was really important for us. We took advantage of our serve, every first contact was positive, and I thought we did a nice job getting out in front."
 
In set two, it was Western Michigan (10-4, 3-0 MAC) that went on the big scoring run. The Huskies built a 9-5 lead on a 5-0 run capped by a Mihacevich kill. The Broncos came back with a 10-2 run to take a 15-11 lead on a block by Simkins and Merz. NIU rallied to tie the set at 17 on a kill by Atiemo. Western Michigan then won four of the next five points to go up 21-18 on back-to-back Julia Marr kills. The Huskies won the next two points to get within one at 21-20, but that was as close as NIU would get. The two sides traded points for the remainder of the set with a Merz kill locking up a 25-23 win for the Broncos and a 1-1 tie in the match.
 
After a close start to the third set, the Broncos ran off five consecutive points to take a 14-8 lead. Western Michigan grew its lead to seven at 20-13 after three straight NIU errors. The Huskies made a late run at getting back in the set, winning seven of the next eight points to get within one at 21-20 on a Balensiefer ace. However, just like in the second set, the Huskies could not come all the way back and traded points with Western Michigan until the Broncos took the set 25-23 on a Meredith Phillips kill to go up 2-1 in the match. The Broncos' offense hit its stride in the fourth set. Western Michigan got out to a 9-4 lead and didn't look back, hitting .353 in the set to take it 25-21 and the match 3-1.
 
NIU hit .298 for the match with Western Michigan hitting .233. The Huskies held an 81-75 advantage in digs thanks to freshman Francesca Bertucci's (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) season-high 30. NIU also had an 8.0-4.0 edge in blocks with Kemp recording six.
 
The Huskies are home this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1-2, to face the Eastern Michigan Eagles. First serve Friday night is at 6 p.m. with Saturday's match starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the following link or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
--NIU--