This weekend’s regular season conference play ended with a defeat for NIU volleyball, but not before locking in the fourth seed for the MAC Tournament.

The Huskies (25-6 overall, 11-5 MAC) guaranteed themselves the fourth seed and first round tournament bye after sweeping Eastern Michigan on Friday night.

In the three-set match, outside hitter Lauren Wicinski did what she does best racking up 19 kills, a .455 hitting percentage and 16 digs. Outside hitter Allison McGlaughlin joined Wicinski with double-digit kills of 11, along with a service ace and six digs. Setter Kristin Hoffman helped the team with 44 assists, while libero Maddie Hughes dug up 16 balls from the back row.

After controlling much of the first set, the Huskies found themselves down most of the second before inching back to take the set and then match from the Eagles (23-10, 10-6).

“It felt like if we could just maintain we could make a positive run at the end,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden of the second set. “That was able to happen. We were down 17-12 and were able to inch up… The biggest thing in that set was serving. We put pressure on them with our serve. They had to earn every point.”

The Huskies took their first lead of the set at 22-21 off a kill from McGlaughlin. It would be a battle to the finish as the Huskies edged the 26-24 extra point advantage.

“We have got to learn how to play against the tough teams in these close two-point games,” said EMU head coach Kim Berrington. “Northern definitely played well at the end.”

Saturday’s final home match did not end as hoped for the Huskies, losing to Central Michigan in five sets. After going up 2-0, the Chippewas (14-14, 8-8) battled back, stealing momentum and going up on long runs.

Still up two games to one, the Huskies went up 8-4 in the fourth before the Chippewas stormed back on an 8-1 run and eventually took the set 25-23. In the decisive fifth, the Huskies could not muster a run to take the lead and fell 9-15.

Even with the loss, the night ended positively as the Huskies honored Hughes, the lone senior. Hughes has said from the beginning of the season that she wanted the team to “dominate the MAC.” Acknowledging her dedication to the team and the sport on senior night was the least her team members wanted to do for her.

“I just want to honor her leadership, athletic abilities,” Hoffman said. “She’s a huge reason why we’ve been successful this year both on the court and off the court… You want to play well for her because she has so much energy and intensity. She has so much passion for the game of volleyball.”