DEKALB, Ill. — The University of Toledo volleyball team defeated Northern Illinois in four sets on Friday night. It was the first win for the Rockets in DeKalb since the 2005 season and snapped a 12-match losing streak against the Huskies.

After dropping set one, Toledo won the next three, including an emphatic 25-15 win in the fourth set to clinch its first MAC win of the season.

"Northern Illinois is a tough place to go and win," head coach Jason Oliver said. "It was great to see us finish and get over the hump tonight. We showed a lot of grit in winning on the road against a tough team. Hopefully that's something we can build on for the remainder of the season."

Junior Emma Swope (14) and freshman Ryann Jaqua (13) both tallied double-digit kills, while senior Zoe Birnbrich hit .500 and added a match-high six blocks. Sophomores Maddie Fogg and Megan Beasley both saw time at setter, tallying 25 and 20 assists, respectively. Junior Rhyen Neal led the team with 20 digs. Both Fogg and Jaqua cracked double-digits in digs to cap double-doubles on Friday night.

Toledo visits Western Michigan on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Set 1 (NIU, 25-21)
With the score tied at 6-6, NIU scored four in a row to take a 10-6 lead. The Rockets fought back and took a 12-11 lead thanks to back-to-back aces from Fogg. The Huskies didn't stay down long though, using a 6-1 run to pull ahead 17-13.  The Rockets were unable to grab a share of the lead from that point on, falling to NIU by a score of 25-21 in the first frame.

Set 2 (Toledo, 25-22)
The Rockets started off the second set with a 5-1 lead, but Northern Illinois was able to come back and tie the score at 6-6. Toledo pulled ahead to take a 15-11 advantage, its highest of the night to that point. The Huskies, however, surged forward with an 8-3 run to take a one-point lead, 19-18. With the score tied at 20-20, Liz Beasley's kill put the Rockets ahead by one and Fogg's third ace of the night gave her team a 22-20 lead. NIU would tie the score again at 22-22, but Toledo scored the next three points to win 25-22 and tie the match at 1-1. Swope had five kills in the second set.

Set 3 (Toledo, 27-25)
Northern Illinois held an 11-10 lead at one point, but a 5-1 run for the Rockets put them ahead 15-11. Toledo looked to have the third set in the bag, leading 24-20, but the Huskies scored four straight points to put the score at 24-24. Jaqua put UT within one point of winning once again, but a Toledo service error followed and made the score 25-25. Another termination from Jaqua brought about set point again, 26-25, and this time the Rockets were able to put the Huskies away and win 27-25. Jaqua added six kills in the third set and Birnbrich tallied three blocks.

Set 4 (Toledo, 25-15)
Toledo used a 6-1 run to pull ahead 9-6 early. Northern Illinois then turned the tables with a 4-1 run of its own to knot the score at 10-10. The two teams tussled to another tie at 14-14, then the Rockets hit the gas and didn't let up. They ended the night on an 11-1 run and scored the final eight points of the match to put an exclamation point on a 25-15 win and take the match in four sets. The Rockets earned those final eight points as well: Kleespies kill, Swope kill, Kleespies kill, Birnbrich and Kleespies block, Kleespies kill, Swope kill, NIU attack error, and finally a block from Birnbrich and Swope to cap off the victory.