DeKALB, Ill. – It was an epic battle between two of the premier teams in the Mid-American Conference Friday night at Victor E. Court. Four Huskies reached double-figure digs, but the Northern Illinois University volleyball team eventually fell to the Ball State Cardinals in four sets (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-15).

"Credit to Ball State for playing a good volleyball match – even with some of the struggles, I still thought we had some people that did some pretty good things tonight," said head NIU coach Ray Gooden. "We just now have to put it together as a group. The best news for us is we get a chance to do it back-to-back with them tomorrow and play in the afternoon,"

How it Happened: NIU fell behind 3-0 to start the first frame, but a 5-0 run put the Huskies in front 8-7 early. The two teams went back-and-forth until – with NIU trailing by one (18-17) – the Cardinals went on a 7-2 run to close the set, giving them a 1-0 lead in the match.

An 11-3 run to finish off the second set helped Ball State hold NIU to its lowest hitting percentage of the evening (.082). Things were looking grim until the Huskies thundered back to win the third set. Trailing 19-13, NIU exploded on a 11-4 run to give itself set point at 24-23. Emily Dykes (Winterville, N.C./Ayden-Grifton) logged the set-winner from Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle), forcing set four.

Ball State hit .400 in the fourth frame to seal the 3-1 victory. The Huskies made things interesting after a Cardinal error and back-to-back kills from Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) made the score 19-13, Ball State. But the Cardinals ran away on a 6-2 run to end the set and match.

Notables: Sophie Hurt (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) broke her career-high in assists with three and tied her career-high in digs with 12. Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) racked up 40 assists and 13 digs to earn a double-double. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) also logged a double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs. Bertucci led the team with 25 digs. Dykes contributed 10 kills while Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) posted five blocks, a match-high.

Up Next: The two teams will head back to the hardwood tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a rematch.

"I think there's a lot we can take from (tonight). Now, we've got understand how we can play our style of volleyball, our style of volleyball is good enough for success. We're going to have to be able to do that consistently tomorrow."