The NIU volleyball team has returned from its first road trip of the season, bringing back something they left home without: a win.

As great as that first win is, especially since it’s the first for its first-year head coach, areas for improvement remain for NIU with six out-of conference matches left and league play looming.

OPPOSING SERVICE SETBACKS 

NIU’s back row was under attack from opposing servers during its stint in the Tarheel State. Between all of the opponents they faced, the Huskies conceded 22 service aces.

University of North Carolina Wilmington graduate student libero Charlotte Cronister proved to be the biggest serving threat of the weekend for the Huskies. The Chicago native recorded five service aces in Friday’s match – three of those in consecutive rallies.

The Huskies slightly mitigated these errors in their final match of the weekend against Queens University of Charlotte, logging six aces while allowing five. It was a step in the right direction, but it’s an issue NIU needs to have remedied in order to have success.

SLUGGISH THIRD SETS

A brief glimpse at this weekend’s box scores for NIU will tell you that the third set wasn’t the kindest to the Huskies.

In Friday’s win over UNCW and Saturday’s loss to Davidson College, NIU sustained its largest losing margin of the match in the third set. In both cases, NIU fell into early deficits that it was unable to climb out of.

Like they did with their service fielding woes, the Huskies improved in their match against the Royals. NIU won set No. 3 over Queens, 25-22. However, the final score doesn’t detail the extraordinary circumstances that led to that result.

The Royals sprung to a 10-3 advantage in the set, on pace to hand NIU its first sweep of the season. The Huskies’ winning effort was largely aided by a 7-0 run to climb even and a 6-2 run later to bring about set point.

As nice as it is to put together big runs like that to pull a team out of a jam, they’re not something that can be relied upon once conference play begins. If you’re down 2-0 in a match and staring at a potential shutout, the third set can be the spark of resurgence or the nail in a coffin.

SLOWLY BUT SURELY, THE DEFENSE COMES ALONG

NIU’s defense took a beating this past weekend. The team allowed eight players – two from UNCW, three from Davidson and three from Queens – to earn double-digit kills.

In spite of the number of opposing headaches, the Huskies showed progress in their ability to limit opposing offense. The Huskies gave up 171 kills in 14 sets (12.21 kills per set) this weekend compared to the 191 they permitted in 13 sets (14.7 kills per set) last weekend. The difference isn’t staggering, but it’s still an improvement.

I’d be remiss to ignore the efforts of those playing taking reps in the front court. The Huskies’ front line has out-blocked its opponents in five of NIU’s six matches so far. NIU denied 33 opposing attacks over the course of its two-day road stretch.

Once the back and front rows of NIU’s can find the same suitable defensive rhythm, they’ll be a much greater force on defense that can complement the team’s exceptional offensive production.

HUSKIES DON’T ROLL OVER

While NIU’s half-dozen matches haven’t shown great results, its 1-5 start has at least one redeeming quality: None of those losses were shutouts.

In all five of its losses, NIU has avoided the three-and-done defeat indicative of a complete smother. The Huskies’ closest encounter with a sweep was the aforementioned Queens match, which turned into a five-set barnburner.

The message to opponents should be a clear one to understand: NIU is willing and able to battle past three sets.