DeKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan volleyball team battled back from down a set twice to force a decisive fifth, but ultimately fell 3-2 (27-25, 21-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-9) to Northern Illinois on Tuesday evening.
 
FINAL SCORE: Northern Illinois 3, Western Michigan 2
LOCATION: Victor E. Court (DeKalb, Ill.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (10-5, 2-1 MAC) | Northern Illinois (10-3, 3-0 MAC)
 
Logan Case (52 assists, 17 digs) and Maggie King (11 kills, 14 digs) each notched their fifth double-double of the season for Western Michigan. Case's 17 digs were a new season high, and tied Andelyn Simkins for the team lead in the contest. Reeghan Boyer also tallied double-digit digs with 11.
 
King, who was one of four Broncos to tally double-digit kills, extended her streak of matches in double-figures to 10 in a row. Joining King in double-figures were Keona Salesman, who led WMU with a career-high tying 17 kills on a .261 hitting percentage, Abi Wilcoxson, who collected 13, and Amanda Glanton, who also equaled her career high with 10. Madison Merz was just behind the quartet with nine kills.
 
WMU tied its season high with nine total blocks for the evening, led by Wilcoxson's career-high six block assists. Glanton posted five rejections (2 solo, 3 assists), while Merz equaled her career high with four (1 solo, 3 assists).
 
The Huskies got out to a fast start, tallying the first four points of the evening. Western Michigan responded with four in a row of its own to move in front, 8-6. WMU extended its lead out to as many as four in the opening frame, 18-14, but Northern Illinois mounted a late charge to get back even at 21-21. NIU then got to set point at 24-22, but the Broncos stayed alive and drew level at 24-24. Western Michigan fended off another set point at 25-24, but the Huskies then notched the next two points to eke out the first frame, 27-25.
 
A five-point run helped WMU claim an early 7-4 edge in the second set. The Broncos then used a 6-2 stretch to extend their cushion to 15-10. With Western Michigan on top 19-14, Northern Illinois notched three points in a row to shrink the gap to two, 19-17. Two points was as close as the hosts got in the latter stages of the set, and a Merz kill finished the frame and evened the contest at one set apiece heading into the break.
 
Northern Illinois opened the third set with an 8-1 run. WMU trimmed the margin to four, 12-8, but could not recover from its slow start and the Huskies moved back ahead in the contest, 2-1.
 
With NIU holding a 13-10 advantage in the fourth set, Western Michigan rattled off four in a row to move ahead, 14-13. A 4-1 spurt extended the Bronco advantage to 18-15, but NIU answered with three straight points to tie it up at 18-18. WMU broke the deadlock with four consecutive points to ignite a 7-1 set-sealing surge which sent the match into a decisive fifth frame.
 
Neither team led by more than two in the early going of the final set, with Northern Illinois holding an 8-7 edge as the two teams flipped sides. After the switch, the Huskies reeled off five points in a row to seize a 13-7 lead. Western Michigan got it back to a 13-9 margin, but NIU grabbed the next two points to clinch the set and the match.
 
The Broncos are back out on the road this Friday and Saturday as they take on Akron. First serve for the series opener against the Zips is slated for Friday evening at 6 pm.