DeKALB – Every point counted in Friday’s battle at Victor E. Court between the Mid-American Conference’s division leaders as NIU volleyball (12-4, 5-1 MAC) pulled out a 3-1 victory over Bowling Green State University (9-7, 4-1 MAC).

“The match was an epic battle of two teams that are representing the MAC in a good way,” head coach Ray Gooden said.

NIU downed Bowling Green in front of a crowd of 289 spectators during Black Out night at Victor E. Court, handing the Falcons their first loss in MAC play.

Each of the night’s four sets were close contests. The largest winning margin in the match was NIU’s 25-22 triumph over BGSU in the third set. The Falcons attempted 164 attacks compared to NIU’s 135. BGSU also had three players record more kills a piece than NIU’s top attacker, sophomore middle blocker Charli Atiemo.

Atiemo spearheaded NIU’s offense with 15 kills and an impressive .414 hitting percentage. She played a part in each of NIU’s set-winning plays, assisting on the winning block in the first set and recording the final kills in the third and fourth sets.

Senior outside hitter Katie Jablonski recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore libero Francesca “Franki” Bertucci had a game-high 26 digs to help NIU’s team total 69 digs.

One of NIU’s standout units in the match was the front row, Bertucci said.

“Tonight (Friday), the block was the best thing for us,” Bertucci said. “That was, like, the best they’ve been all year.”

Junior right side hitter Emily Dykes led the game with seven blocks. Middle blockers Atiemo and junior Sammi Lockwood each tallied five blocks.

A duel of MAC power players

Saturday’s matchup featured the leaders of the MAC’s East Division and West Division. NIU commanded the West’s leaderboard with an 11-4 overall record at the time. Bowling Green led the East by a wide margin, being undefeated in the conference slate at the time.

NIU began its home stand fresh off a loss to the University at Buffalo Bulls on Oct. 1 that broke the Huskies’ eight-game win streak. The Falcons arrived at Victor E. Court with a hot start to its conference slate. BGSU registered pairs of wins over Kent State University and Ohio University that amounted to a four-game winning streak.

The previous meeting between NIU and BGSU ended with a Huskie loss in straight sets. NIU led the all-time-series 26-17 before Friday’s first serve.

The first signs of a tough matchup

Bowling Green set the tone early after springing out to a 10-4 lead to open the first set. Atiemo notched back-to-back kills immediately after Gooden called a timeout. The team kicked off a run that led to a tie at 14.

The Huskies took their first lead of the set, 17-16, after another Atiemo kill. A pair of consecutive kills by senior outside hitter Brianna “Bina” Scuric returned the advantage to the Huskies, 22-21.

Dykes brought set point four rallies later with a kill. NIU took the set after Atiemo and Jablonski teamed up for the set-winning block.

Bowling Green prevents the sweep

Friday’s second set opened with a hard-fought scoring battle. The teams tied with each other nine times by the time the score reached 11-11. NIU entered the media timeout up 15-12.

The Huskies struggled to shake off the Falcons after the set tied seven more times. BGSU went up 24-22 to put the Falcons in position to tie the match. Bowling Green pulled out the set win two rallies later, 25-23.

NIU climbs back in front

NIU found itself in a 3-0 deficit in the third set before quickly digging itself out with four-straight scores. After the set was tied at 10, Lockwood took part in three of NIU’s ensuing quartet of points. Lockwood recorded a kill, solo block and a block assist to help the Huskies go up 14-10.

BGSU rallied back to tie matters up at 19. Lockwood came through for NIU again with two kills and a solo block in three straight rallies. The Huskies later claimed set No. 3 with an Atiemo kill, 25-22.

Huskies slip by in the fourth

The match’s deciding set began as contestedly as the two previous. BGSU played the frontrunner after breaking away from an 8-8 tie. BGSU slipped away from NIU to go up 19-15. The Huskies replied with a 3-0 run to bring the set within a point.

(We) blur out everything else in the world and just play,” Dykes said.”

A pair of attack errors by BGSU senior outside hitter Katelyn Meyer allowed NIU to tie the set at 22. Meyer’s third-straight attack error gave the Huskies the go-ahead score. Jablsonki’s service ace on the next rally brought up set point.

Atiemo called the game with a strike directly to Bowling Green’s side of the court on match point. NIU won the set 25-23 and ended the match, 3-1.

The Huskies’ win allowed them to remain the top team in the conference at 12-4. The Falcons, despite the loss, held on to their No. 1 spot in the East Division with a 4-1 record in league play.

Dykes said the team understands the importance of not glossing over any of its upcoming opponents.

“We know that we can’t underestimate people from here,” Dykes said. “We just have to play strong from here on out.”

What’s next

NIU will continue its attempts to defend home court for its final game of the weekend. The Huskies are set to host the Miami University RedHawks at 7 p.m. Saturday at Victor E. Court.

“If we play like we did tonight, we can beat anyone,” Bertucci said.

The match will be broadcast on NIU All-Access and live statistics will be accessible on SIDEARM Sports.