DeKalb, Ill.— Toledo opened MAC play on Friday evening, falling to Northern Illinois, 3-0.

The Rockets got progressively closer to the Huskies as the match went on, but were unable to find themselves on the winning end of a set. Chloee Kleespies had a team-high 10 kills while Zoe Birnbrich and Alexis Falzone both tallied five terminations and hit over .300. Birnbrich also registered a season-high seven block assists.

Next up for the Rockets is a road match at Western Michigan, scheduled for Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN .

Set 1 (25-15, NIU)
The Rockets dropped the first set, 25-15, to fall behind 1-0 in the match. The Huskies hit .308 compared to UT's .129. Toledo was credited with the first point of the match thanks to a Northern Illinois service error, but they would not hold the lead again in the set. Emma Swope had four kills and hit .500 in the first set to lead Toledo.

Set 2 (25-21, NIU)
Northern Illinois once again took an early lead and didn't look back. The Rockets were within one in the early going, trailing 6-5, but NIU scored the next four points to double up UT's score, 10-5. Toledo scored seven of eight points at one juncture to pull within two, 18-16. The Rockets were unable to break through, though, and fell behind 2-0 in the match after losing the second set.

Set 3 (25-23, NIU)
The final set was also the closest of the night, featuring 15 tie scores. The ledger was tied as late as 22-22, with the Rockets reaching that stalemate thanks to a kill from Kleespies. But a UT service error gave the Huskies a 23-22 advantage and led to a 25-23 NIU third set victory. Northern  Illinois' Meg Wolowicz had eight kills in the final set to push her team over the top and down the Rockets in their MAC opener.