DeKALB, Ill. - Western Illinois volleyball fell in three games in its final match of the Comfort Inn and Suites Northern Illinois Invitational.NIU?s Kate McCullagh led all players with 20 kills, and notched a hitting percentage of .429. Patty Melinauskas led Western with 12 kills, while Ashley Baker tallied 10 and freshman Erin Frick scored 8.?Offensively, Ashley and Erin performed well. They both hit great percentages, and we?re very excited about Erin playing so well as a freshman,? head coach Kym Mckay said.Despite an outstanding effort from all-conference performer Ashley Baker, who tallied six kills on seven attempts, WIU dropped the first game 30-22. NIU scored five of its first 11 points of off Western errors, and steadily built a 14-9 lead in the opening game. Later in the stanza, the Huskies tallied six straight to take a 10-point lead at 24-14.?The errors we made on our side were unforced and untimely,? McKay said. ?At 18-16 the referee overturned a call in Northern?s favor and they went on an 8-0 run. We?ve got to keep control in those situations.Western?s peak in the three-match tournament came in the second game, which they lost to the Huskies 26-30. Freshman Erin Frick hit 3-for-6 in the period, and junior Amy Sauerwein bounced back from a 1-for-10 game one performance to tally five kills on seven attempts.?Our serve receive was much better in game two,? McKay said. ?They served a lot of balls to (Jennifer) Alex (ander) and she passed them well.?The Huskies outperformed the Westerwinds until the late stages of game three, at one point scoring ten consecutive points. The run left Western down 20-8.WIU also started the 2005 season 0-3, losing three matches at the Illinois State Invitational. The Westerwinds won 17 of their next 28 contests, including 11 Mid-Continent Conference victories, the most in program history. ?The teams we played at this tournament are of a very high caliber relative to the teams in our conference,? said McKay. ?This tournament has taught us that we need to increase our intensity and focus levels during practice.?Baker effort of 30 kills and a .377 hitting percentage landed her a spot on the Comfort Inn and Suites All-Tournament Team.Next on the slate for WIU is the Bradley Invitational in Peoria, Ill., Sept. 1-2. The Westerwinds will take on the tournament host Friday at 7 p.m., and Cincinnati and Austin Peay Saturday, at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.- western illinois volleyball -