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Score: Northern Illinois 3, Ohio 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-12)
Location: DeKalb, Ill. (Victor E. Court)
Record: Ohio 19-4 (9-1 MAC), Northern Illinois 12-10 (8-2 MAC)
Short Story: The Ohio volleyball team (19-4, 9-1 MAC) suffered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-12) sweep at the hands of Mid-American Conference West Division foe Northern Illinois (12-10, 8-2 MAC) on Saturday (Oct. 24) at Victor E. Court in DeKalb, Ill.

THE BASICS
• Northern Illinois limited Ohio to a .082 attack percentage as the Bobcats committed 21 attack errors. The Huskies hit .295 (34 kills-11 errors-78 total attacks.
• Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) led the match with 14 kills for Ohio. She also added two solo blocks.
• Senior middle blocker Karin Bull (Bloomington, Minn.) added eight kills and an assisted block for the Bobcats.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) led the Bobcats with three total blocks (one solo, two assisted) and chipped in a kill and a dig.
• Senior setter Abby Gilleland (Bull Valley, Ill.) tallied a team-high 25 assists for the Bobcats and also recorded a kill, an assisted block and three digs.
• Junior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) led Ohio with seven digs.
• Junior outside hitter T'ara Austin led Northern Illinois with 13 kills and added two service aces, two assisted blocks and eight digs.
• Junior middle blocker Jenna Radtke provided seven kills and a match-high four assisted blocks for the Huskies. She also added two service aces and two digs.
• Senior setter Alexis Gonzalez distributed a match-high 29 assists for Northern Illinois and chipped in a kill, a service ace and five digs.
• Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Anna Brereton led the match with 15 digs and notched two service aces for the Huskies.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio used four kills by Walker, three by sophomore outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and two by Bull to build a 19-17 lead in the opening set. The Huskies rallied, though, closing the set with an 8-2 run to record a four-point set win.
• The second set was evenly matched at the start, with Northern Illinois holding a slight edge at 14-12. Three kills apiece by Walker and Bull helped the Bobcats keep pace with the Huskies. Northern Illinois then rattled off an 11-2 run, though, to wrap up the set victory and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Ohio kept things close in the early going again in the third set, using two kills by Walker and kills by Bull and Salis to help the Bobcats stay within a point of Northern Illinois at 10-9. Unfortunately for Ohio, it was all Huskies from there, as the home team closed out the sweep with a 15-3 run.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio's loss to Northern Illinois snapped a 33-match conference winning streak for the Bobcats as well as a 12-match overall winning streak.
• Walker posted double-digit kills for the second match in a row and third time in the last four matches. She's achieved the feat seven times in 2015 and eight times in her career.
• Gilleland recorded double-digit assists for the 23rd time this season and 115th time in her career.

QUOTABLE:
"NIU played great tonight, so we give them all the credit they deserve. Tonight will serve as a great motivator for our team as we work toward our potential this week. We all have to do our jobs better going foward, both coaches and players." - Second-Year Head Coach Deane Webb

WHAT'S NEXT
Ohio plays its final road matches of the regular season, visiting Oxford, Ohio, next Friday (Oct. 30) in a 7 p.m. ET 'Battle of the Bricks' matchup with Miami before visiting MAC East Division rival Bowling Green on Saturday (Oct. 31) at 5 p.m. ET.

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