PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) had a team-high 17 kills and Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) tallied a career-best 28 digs, but Bradley couldn't hold on to a two-sets-to-one lead as Northern Illinois rallied for a 20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 victory against the Braves Saturday afternoon in the 2012 CEFCU Classic at Renaissance Coliseum.

Tupuritis notched 13 of her match-high 17 kills in the first three sets, helping Bradley (6-5 overall) take two of the first three sets.  She found the floor with five kills in the opening set and recorded six kills with no hitting errors on 16 attack attempts in the third. 

After splitting the first two frames, Bradley took control late in the third set.  Tupuritis broke a 20-20 tie with her sixth kill of the set and the Braves, who hit .400 in the third set, went in front in the match with a 25-22 victory.

Northern Illinois (9-7 overall) heated up in the fourth set, hitting .326 in the frame, and forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-22 win.  The Huskies led by as many as nine points (22-13) before a late Bradley push, highlighted by two kills and block from junior Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan). 

Bradley found itself in an early hole in the fifth set, trailing 5-1 early on.  The Braves eventually pulled even at 8-8, but NIU's MacKenzie Roddy notched four of her Renaissance Coliseum record 30 kills during a 7-3 Huskies spurt.  Northern Illinois finished off the match with a 15-11 fifth-set win.

Three Bradley players reached double figures in kills, paced by Tupuritis 17.  Angelos and senior Madelyn Ervin (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) each had 11 kills, with Angelos adding five blocks and Ervin tallying a pair of aces.  Zerante finished with a career-best 28 digs to help lead Bradley defensively. 

Roddy led four NIU players in double figures recording 23 of her 30 kills in the final three sets.  The Huskies served up four of their 10 aces in the contest in the final set.

In other action at the CEFCU Classic earlier in the day, Long Beach State swept Northern Illinois to open Saturday's action and Arkansas State topped Northern Iowa in four sets.