DeKALB — Despite hitting a season-high .230, the women’s volleyball team drops to 1-6 on the season, losing 1-3 in the first match against the Eastern Michigan University Eagles on Thursday. 

Sophomore outside hitter Katie Jablonski and senior Kennedy Wallace each had 13 kills for the Huskies, a team-high. Jablonski also had a double-double with 16 digs. 

In the first set, NIU had an early 10-6 lead with a 6-0 run against the Eagles. Junior Angie Gromos had three straight kills to give the Huskies this early lead. However, EMU had a four-point run to tie the set back up at 11. The Eagles then increased their lead to win the match 25-20. 

The Huskies’ only match win of the night came in the second set when sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn Bell and junior right side JoDee Kovanda had eight kills. An 11-11 tie was then broken with a 7-2 run by the Huskies. After a 24-23 score, Kovanda had her fourth kill of the set, giving the Huskies the win with a score of 25-23. 

13 ties and four lead changes describes the third set. It was a back-and-forth affair with runs by both teams. Towards the end of the match, a Wallace kill started a 4-0 run when the score was 16-14 led by the Eagles. EIU came back to take a 20-19 lead until the match was tied 25-25. The Huskies then committed an error and the Eagles won the match 27-25 to have a lead 2-1 overall. 

An 8-3 run for the Eagles in the fourth set led to an early timeout by the Huskies as they were down 13-8. NIU got within 3 as the score was 16-13 because of junior Jasmine Kemp’s kill. The rest of the match was followed with both teams trading points until the Eagles won the set 25-21, giving them the match at 3-1. 

NIU looks to split a pair of matches against the Eagles Friday for a 4 p.m. match at Victor E. Court in the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois.