For the first two games in Kalamazoo, coach Ray Gooden watched his NIU volleyball team dominate a Western Michigan team on both sides of the ball.

But just when the Huskies were ready to shut the door, the host Broncos charged back to take the next three games and hand NIU a bitter 30-16, 30-19, 26-30, 21-30, 6-15 defeat Wednesday night.

“The first two games were great,” Gooden said. “We played our best volleyball to date. But we have to do it for three games to win. We win together and we lose together.”

In the first of a four-match road trip, NIU (8-9 overall, 1-2 MAC) came out firing in Game 1. The Huskies offensive execution was near perfection as the team tallied 23 kills and only three errors for a .444 hitting percentage. The defense also stepped up to limit the Broncos (9-4, 2-1) to a .075 hitting percentage and take the game 30-16.

Game 2 was more of the same as the Huskies only committed one error and hit .409 while holding the Broncos in check for a 30-19 win.

But the momentum shifted permanently in Game 3 as WMU took a 9-3 lead and carried the rest of the game thanks to 18 kills while forcing 10 errors from NIU en route to a 30-26 victory. Games 4 and 5 were not as close as WMU pulled away 30-21 and 15-6.

Junior middle blocker Kate McCullagh, the nation’s leader in kills per game, led the Huskies with 24 kills on 60 attempts and three blocks. Senior Corinne Walsh, sophomore Amy Ward and freshman Joelle Beisel also added double digit kills numbers for NIU, who have lost five-of-last six matches.

“We came in with an air of focus,” Gooden said. “We were ready to go and were prepared. To beat the best, you have to play the best. We just weren’t able to sustain it.”

The Huskies continues their road trip at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bowling Green.