The volleyball team lost to the Western Michigan University Broncos for the first time since Nov. 8, 2012 when they lost to them in four sets Thursday (25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-13).

The Huskies (1-15, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) lost their fourth consecutive game as they began conference play Thursday.

Despite winning the first set of the match, the Huskies were unable to defeat the Broncos and lost in four sets.

After being named to the Buckeye Invitational All-Tournament team for her performances Saturday, junior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz followed it up Thursday with leading NIU with 14 kills and 18 points for the match.

Head Coach Ray Gooden commented on what he believes is responsible for Wolowicz’s recent streak of strong games.

“[Wolowicz has shown] a little bit of growth [and] a little bit of development,” Gooden said. “[She has] little bit more [of] an understanding of what she’s trying to do. I thought she did some positive things tonight.”

Although Gooden was disappointed with losing the first conference game of the season, Gooden spoke highly of the effort his team showed.

“In our conference, division battles are really tough and I thought we battled really hard against a good Western Michigan team for the vast majority of the match,” Gooden said. “It’s hard to win on the road but I thought we did some positive things.”

The two teams were tied 13-13 in the first set before NIU went on a 4-0 run to give themselves their largest lead of the set. Western Michigan answered with a 4-0 run of their own to tie it up, but the Huskies closed-out the set 6-4 to win the opening round 25-23 following a kill by Wolowicz.

The second set was tied 12-12 before the Broncos went on a 4-0 to lead 16-12. The Huskies went on a run but could not get over the hump and the Broncos won 25-22.

The Huskies jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the third set. Western Michigan immediately battled back with their own 6-0 to give themselves a three-point lead before a timeout. The game was close but the Broncos came up with a 25-23 victory.

NIU didn’t recover from their slow start to the fourth set. The Broncos jumped out to a 15-4 lead and they didn’t look back. The Huskies didn’t bring the deficit closer than nine points and Western Michigan closed out the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-13 and win the match in four sets.

Coach Golden said the team needs to put this loss behind them and focus on the next opponent.

“We’ve got to get a workout in tomorrow [and] get ready for Bowling Green [State University Falcons],” Gooden said. “That’s going to be another match that’s tough on the road. If we can put a match together, we feel good about the fact that we can compete against the Falcons.”

The Huskies will continue their road trip and look for their first conference win of the season against the Falcons 4 p.m. Saturday in Bowling Green, Ohio.