Box Score
DeKALB, Ill. -- Freshman outside hitter Ali Gossen set career highs with 16 kills and .483 attack percentage, but Western Michigan couldn't hold onto the lead and fell at Northern Illinois, 3-2 (22-25, 25-17, 25-27, 25-21, 15-10), in a Mid-American Conference match at Victor E. Court on Thursday night.
The loss snapped the Broncos (11-5, 2-1 MAC) five-match winning streak and was the first five-set match of the season for WMU. The Huskies (16-2, 2-1 MAC) moved into a tie with WMU in second place in the MAC West.
Sophomore middle blocker
Jessica Brown added 15 kills, three blocks, two digs and hit .333, while senior outside hitter
Allyson Doyle notched her 38th career double-double with 10 kills, 10 digs, five assists and career-high-tying three aces. Doyle moved into 16th place in school history with 1,032 career kills. Freshman middle blocker
Emily Harris tallied a career-high nine kills playing in the last three sets.
Junior setter Sam Viox had a season-high 55 assists and moved into 10th place in school history with 1,711 career assists. Freshman libero Lena Oliver led the Broncos with 20 digs and freshman outside hitter Taylor Richard tied her career high with 16 digs.
The Huskies were led by Lauren Wicinski with 29 kills, 12 digs and hit .309, while libero Maddie Hughes led all players with 27 digs. Setter Kristin Hoffman had 67 assists and 10 digs as the Huskies hit .298 and held WMU to .228 attacking. The Huskies had more kills (76-63), digs (75-69) and blocks (6.0-4.0).
"Northern Illinois played very, very well," head coach Colleen Munson said. "We were able to side out with them, but couldn't get enough runs going."
WMU won the third set to take the lead, but Northern Illinois came back to win the fourth set and extend the match to the fifth set.
A kill by Harris and block by Brown and Viox gave the Broncos the
first two points of the fifth set, but NIU came back to tie, 4-4. The
Broncos went back up two, 6-4, after a Gossen kill and NIU error. The
Huskies came back with a 4-1 run to take its first lead, 8-7. WMU tied
the score after another error by NIU, but then was called for being in
the net on the next point. Doyle had a kill to tie the set, 9-9, but
then NIU scored five in a row with three straight kills and then two WMU
errors. WMU saved one match point after a ball-handling error by NIU,
but couldn't stave off defeat, 15-10.
NIU hit .304 with 10 kills
and three errors in the final set. After a good start, WMU finished with
six kills and four errors in the decisive frame.
A kill by Brown, ace by Doyle and kill by freshman outside hitter Gillian Asque put the Broncos on top, 4-2, in the first set. Northern Illinois tied the score by earning the next two points, but another Brown kill and NIU error put WMU back up, 6-4. The Broncos pushed the lead to four after kills by Gossen and Asque, 11-7. Western Michigan kept the lead around three to four points, until NIU closed within one, 20-19, late in the set. Doyle had a kill to push the cushion to two, 22-20, but NIU scored the next point. WMU answered with an Asque kill and block by Brown and Gossen to go up three, 23-20, and took the first set on an attack error by the Huskies, 25-22.
WMU hit .424 with 17 kills in the first set, while NIU had 18 kills and hit .325. Brown and Gossen had four kills to lead the Broncos, while Viox dished 15 assists.
Asque scored the first point of the second set for WMU with a kill, but then NIU scored three in a row to take a lead it would not relinquish. A missed serve kept the Broncos within one, 6-5, but the Huskies rattled off a 8-1 run to take control of the set, 14-6. The Broncos scored three in a row on kills by Asque and Doyle and an ace by junior middle blocker Ashley Turnage to force NIU to call timeout, 22-16. The Huskies responded with kills on three of the next four points to even the match, 25-17.
The Huskies hit .500 in the set with 15 kills and one error in 28 attempts, while the Broncos hit .125 with 12 kills and eight errors in 32 attempts. Doyle had four kills and hit .667 as a bright spot for WMU in the frame.
The Huskies missed an attack to start the third set, but then scored the next four points. Gossen notched a kill to keep WMU within three, 9-6, but the Huskies came back with another 4-0 run to increase its lead, 13-6. The Huskies missed the next serve to start a 7-2 run for the Broncos to close within two, 15-13, after back-to-back kills by Harris. The Huskies kept its lead at three, 22-19, but kills by Harris, Brown and Gossen tied the score and forced NIU to call timeout.
NIU scored the next point and the teams traded for the next six points until WMU saved its second set point and tied the set, 25-25, on another Gossen kill. The Huskies missed on the next two points to give WMU the set, 27-25, and the match lead, 2-1.
WMU hit .238 with 15 kills and five errors, while the Huskies had 18 kills and eight errors to hit .185. Gossen had five kills and hit .714, while Harris and Brown each added four kills. Oliver and Richard had eight and seven digs in the set.
The Huskies started the fourth set with back-to-back aces and went up three, 6-3, before WMU went on a 5-1 run to take the lead, 8-7. The teams traded points until NIU went back up by two, 14-12, and kept that distance for the next 10 points, 19-17. Back-to-back kills by Brown and an error by NIU put the Broncos back on top, 20-19, and NIU called timeout.
Western Michigan subsequently missed the serve after the timeout to tie the set and start a 6-1 run that extended the match, 25-21, for NIU.
WMU hit .229 with 13 kills and five errors, while NIU hit .278 with 15 kills and five errors. Brown and Harris each had four kills for the Brown & Gold.
The Broncos head to Bowling Green (6-11, 1-2 MAC) on Saturday with first serve set for 7 p.m. at Anderson Arena. The Falcons lost, 3-1, at home to Miami on Thursday night.
