DEKALB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck volleyball fell to Northern Illinois, 3-2, in a midweek match Wednesday evening (September 4). 

The Leathernecks came from behind in set one to win 26-24. Western led early on in the set before the Huskies tied the set up and eventually took the lead. The Purple & Gold would recapture the lead however late in the set to go up 1-0 in the match.

Northern Illinois took a back-and-forth second set, 28-26, while also taking the set three, 25-20, to go ahead 2-1.

Western forced a fifth set with a 25-17 victory in the fourth to tie the match at 2-2. The Leathernecks captured the final seven points in the set to pull away from the Huskies.

NIU took the fifth and final set, 15-9, to win the match 3-2. Western falls to 2-2 on the season while the Huskies improve to 3-2.

Samantha Fournier led the way for the Leathernecks with a season-high 20 kills in the match. Ann Miller added 15 kills while also recording 17 digs.

Bailey Kaloupek notched a career-high 27 digs in the match for the Purple & Gold. Kaitlynn Novak matched her career-high with 16 digs, while Sarah Fetter added 10.

Fetter, who entered tonight's match ranked sixth in career assists at Western with 2,251, also led western with 46 assists for the Leathernecks. She is now 21 assists away from moving into fifth on WIU's all-time assists list.

The Leathernecks will be back in action this weekend as the team travels to Minneapolis, Minn. for a tournament at Minnesota. Western begins tournament play on Friday (Sept. 6) against Duke before taking on host Minnesota and Ball State on Saturday.