DEKALB, Ill.  –  The freshman duo of Meredith Phillips and Sammi Labolle along with sophomore Rachel Bontrager each has 12 kills as Western Michigan volleyball fell to Northern Illinois in four sets (15-25, 25-20, 21-25,19-25) on Thursday night.

Both Labolle and Phillips neared their career-highs in kills against the Huskies as Labolle was three shy while Phillips was one shy. Labolle led the Broncos with a staggering .476 attack percentage to go along with three blocks. Phillips recorded a .281 attack percentage with two digs and one block.

Bontrager neared yet another double-double with 12 kills and eight digs. Bontrager also had one service ace, one dig and one block. Senior Mary Murphy was two shy of her career-high with four kills to go along with a team-high 43 assists and four digs.

The Broncos recorded six service aces on the night with two coming from junior Kathleen Reilly. Reilly also led the team with 17 digs. Redshirt freshman Janell Williams was dominant defensively registering four of WMU's seven blocks, one shy of her career-high.

As a team WMU hit .230 compared to NIU's, .325 and had seven blocks compared to the Huskies, 10. The Huskies also recorded nine service aces compared to WMU's six.

The Broncos now have an overall record of 10-6 and are 0-3 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 29 at Bowling Green. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m.

First Set (15-25)
Northern Illinois jumped out to an early lead over WMU in the first set, grabbing an 11-3 lead early. The Broncos rallied back after a timeout cutting the Huskie lead down to five before NIU earned back-to-back kills to force a Bronco timeout. Down the stretch the Huskies scored five of the last seven points to win the first set, 25-15.

In the first set, the Broncos had an attack percentage of just .077 compared to NIU's, .333. The Huskies dominated the serving number, collecting four service aces in the set.

Second Set (25-20)
The Bronco offense got off to a hot start in the second set going on a 7-2 run to take a 14-9 lead midway through the set. NIU quickly responded with a 4-1 run, forcing the Broncos to call a timeout leading 15-13. After a Huskie timeout late in the set, the Broncos scored six of the final eight points to win the set, 25-20 and tie the match at 1-1.

Third Set (21-25)
WMU was once again jumped out to an early lead in the third set thanks in part to a 4-0 run to hold an 11-6 advantage. Once again the Huskies responded, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a slim one-point lead. NIU led by three late in the set before a 3-0 highlighted by a NIU attack error and kills from Bontrager and sophomore Cassandra Smigiel cut the Huskie lead down to 22-21.  

That was the closest the Broncos got as NIU got back-to-back kills and a service ace to earn the third set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Fourth Set (19-25)
Both teams traded points to begin the fourth set with neither team leading by more than two early. An ace by sophomore Kaley Smith followed by a kill from Williams highlighted a 3-0 run for the Brown & Gold to give WMU a 10-9 lead. Midway through the set the Huskies went on a 6-1 run to gain a 19-14 advantage.

However, the Broncos responded with a 5-1 run of their own to cut the NIU lead down to two at 20-18. The Huskies finished out the fourth set scoring on three kills and two blocks to take the fourth set, 25-19 and the match.