DeKALB — The NIU women’s volleyball team split their two game series with the Eastern Michigan University Eagles after losing Saturday 3-2. 

The Huskies came out the gates a little slow to start the first set. Junior outside hitter Katie Jablonski hit two straight balls out, and setter Ella Mihacevich was called for a bad set, leading to an early 5-1 deficit. 

The Eagles  kept the offense moving, led by their sophomore outside hitter Samantha Basham. Basham had four kills in the first set and led both teams with 20 total. 

“Tonight was (Basham’s) night,” NIU head coach Ray Gooden said. “She did a really good job. There’s enough people in our league where they can have memorable matches and really good outcomes, and Eastern had that tonight.” 

The Huskies went down by as much as eight during the first set, eventually losing 25-19. 

The second set saw more energy coming from the Huskies. A lot of this had to do with a swarm of fans coming from the end of NIU’s football game that ended late due to a weather delay. The set was a highly competitive one, with the score being tied at five different points. 

The Huskies were able to take a 16-12 lead after the team put down three straight kills on the Eagles blockers. The Eagles  came roaring back with a run of their own to cut the lead to 16-15.

Mihacevich  made up for her first set blunder with an aggressive jump serve that had the Eagles send over freeballs on three straight possessions. The Huskies  took advantage of the sloppy passing with a kill by Jablonski. Mihacevich added in an ace and a kill to give the Huskies a commanding 19-15 lead. The Huskies  took the set by a score of 25-17.

The third set was the closest set of the match. The Eagles took an early set lead that got as high as five points. With the score at 17-13, the Huskies junior middle blocker Jasmine Kemp got back-to-back blocks to spark a run that cut the lead to just one. With the score at 20-19, the Eagles were able to go on a run to beat the Huskie by a score of 25-20. 

The Huskies were able to win the fourth set easily as they got plenty of offense from everyone on the court. Mihacevich had a ridiculous run of six straight serves resulting in points. Junior outside Kaitlyn Bell also put up some kills that led to her eventual match total of eight. The Huskies were able to win 25-19 and force a fifth set. 

The Huskies seemed out of gas for the final set. The team went down 3-0 and could never scratch their way out of the deficit. It was again Basham for the Eagles who ended with her getting the kill. This gave the Eagles all the momentum for the set and they were able to win in the end 15-10. 

Although the Huskies lost the match, Gooden was encouraged seeing offense come from so many options, with five Huskies having over eight kills in the match. 

“We know it’s not gonna be just our top group of players,” Gooden said. “We’ve got capable folks ready to play, and when their numbers are called, we expect their best.” 

The Huskies will look to bounce back from the loss at 5 p.m. Friday when they visit the Bowling Green State University Falcons.