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. had a team-high 10 kills while and 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.