A career-high and season-best 34 kills from freshman outside hitter Kaylee Martin was not enough as the Huskies fell in five sets Saturday.

The volleyball team played their first five-game set of the season in a loss to the Bowling Green State University Falcons (25-20, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13).

The Huskies (1-16, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) lost their fifth consecutive game and remain without a win in conference play.

Even though they won the first two sets of the match and were on the verge of sweeping the Falcons in three sets, the Huskies walked away from the last match of their five game road trip without the victory.

Although they suffered a heartbreak loss, Head Coach Ray Gooden saw positive signs from his team.

“I thought we did some real nice things [and we] put ourselves in a good spot to get our first conference win,” Gooden said. “We played a solid first two sets and just battled that third [set], just couldn’t catch a break in the third [set]. [Bowling Green] was able to pull it out and credit to them, they did a real good job, especially with their defense. I thought we played a lot better and put ourselves in spots to be successful tonight.”

Gooden complimented the effort of his team, particularly Martin recording the 34 kills.

“[Martin] for sure brings [us] offense,” Gooden said. “She finds a way to score points [and] she works little-by-little each day to get better and more complete as a player, whether its passing, blocking or something along those lines. She had a massive offensive night tonight.”

Martin wasn’t the only Huskie who had a career night, as senior setter Chandler Kinley had a career-high 59 assists, along with 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Freshman libero Miranda Karlen had a career-high 25 digs.

The Huskies were up 11-8 in the first set and went on a 5-1 run to give themselves a 16-9 lead. Bowling Green cut the lead to three but were not able to comeback as NIU won the set 25-20.

Martin had nine kills in the opening set and Karlen recorded eight digs.

The second set was a stalemate, as neither could create a significant advantage over the other for most of the match. NIU had a 16-15 lead before scoring the next five points to give them the 25-20 win.

Martin added another nine kills for NIU in the second set, while the Huskies held the entire Bowling Green team to 10 kills for the set. It was the first time the Huskies won multiple sets this season.

The Falcons took control of the third set with a 8-4 lead, but the Huskies stayed within striking range. Bowling Green went on a 4-0 run and gave themselves a 21-17 lead before NIU retaliated by scoring five of the next six points to tie it up 22-22. Bowling Green executed late in the set and won 25-23.

The momentum was no longer with the Huskies and Gooden gave credit to Bowling Green for the waythey battled.

“You gotta give credit to those guys where some other players stepped up and they were able to make some plays,” Gooden said.

Bowling Green took another early lead in the fourth set and led the Huskies 14-9. The Falcons kept up the scoring and won the set 25-21, tying the match 2-2.

NIU and Bowling Green continued to battle in the fifth and final set. They were tied 11-11 until two straight points by the Falcons gave Bowling Green a 13-11 lead. Two kills by Martin gave the Huskies a chance to win, but a kill by the Falcons gave them the 15-13 win in the fifth set to win the match.

In light of the disappointing loss, Gooden said the Huskies showed good effort and improvement.

“I know the record shows where we are, but in the same sense right now in the conference we’re only 0-2,” Gooden said. “If we can come back home and defend home [Friday], we still put ourselves in a positive spot early in the season.”

NIU will return home against the Eastern Michigan University Eagles 7 p.m. Friday at Victor E. Court in DeKalb.