TOLEDO, Ohio— The University of Toledo volleyball team dropped its Saturday night match against Northern Illinois in four sets.

The match was tied at 1-1 before a marathon third set that ended at 28-26 in favor of NIU. The Huskies then won the fourth set handily to take home the victory

Senior Zoe Birnbrich was terrific, hitting .520 and tallying a match-high 16 kills. Junior Chloee Kleespies added 12 kills, while freshman Ryann Jaqua and junior Emma Swope each recorded nine. Sophomore Megan Beasley tied a career high with 44 assists and also contributed 13 digs. Junior Rhyen Neal led the team with 14 digs.

Next up for the Rockets is a four-match MAC road trip, with matches at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan slated for next weekend.

Set 1 (NIU, 25-23)

Toledo started the match off on the right foot, jumping out to a 5-1 lead over the Huskies. Northern Illinois got it together enough to wrestle the lead from the Rockets, using a 6-1 run to make the score 9-7. Toledo surged ahead late to take a 23-21 lead, but NIU scored the final four points of the set to win, 25-23.

Set 2 (Toledo, 25-18)

The Rockets hit .333 in the second set, their best of the night. They never trailed at any point and started quite well, taking a 9-2 lead that was bolstered by strong play from Jaqua. The freshman had three kills and a service ace during that stretch. Northern Illinois was able to close the gap a bit, but from that point on they never got closer than four points. The Huskies hit .029 in the second set, their worst of the night, and fittingly one of their eight attack errors handed Toledo the 25th point.

Set 3 (NIU, 28-26)

The longest set of the season for the Rockets ended up with a final score of 28-26 in favor of NIU. Toledo held the lead early, jumping out to a 15-10 advantage. The Huskies battled back and eventually retook the lead from the Rockets at 24-23. A Northern Illinois service error tied the score at 24-24, but NIU quickly rebounded to move ahead by one, 25-24. Kleespies tied the ledger at 25-25 and a Huskies attack error made it 26-25 in the Rockets' favor. Northern Illinois, however, scored three straight points to win 28-26, capping the third set with a service ace.

Set 4 (NIU, 25-13)

The most lopsided set of the night in terms of the final score started with NIU scoring the first three points. The Rockets scored the next three to tie it up at 3-3, but they wouldn't hold a share of the lead for the remainder of the night. NIU ended the match on an 11-3 run to win, 25-13, and take the match in four sets.