The 1990 “broom” is out of the closet and back in the hands of this year’s NIU volleyball team.

The Huskies (5-1) defeated both Eastern Illinois University, Friday, and Bradley University, Saturday, in a double three-game sweep for the weekend. EIU suffered a 15-4, 15-11, 15-7 blow from NIU, while Bradley struggled, 15-7, 15-8, 15-4.

This was the third three-game sweep already posted by NIU this season after producing 19 three-game matches in 1990. But three-game sweeps mean very little to the team, sophomore captain Becky Ramsey said.

“We really just go into the games and do our best whether it’s three games or five,” Ramsey said. “Three-game sweeps really don’t mean much. What’s more important is the win.”

And win they did. The Panthers (2-4) were still riding high from a one-game win they had over University of Illinois last week before the NIU spikers got to them.

Both teams traveled to Jacksonville, Ill. for a promotional match at the Jacksonville High School where a hometown crowd saw NIU bring Eastern back down to earth.

“Some of Eastern’s players were from JHS, so they had a crowd advantage,” Ramsey said. “We just went out and played a great game which quieted the crowd and took EIU out of the match.”

Four NIU players recorded 10 kills as sophomore Amy Foulke led the attack with just four errors in 16 attempts for a .375 average. Wendy Mason (.217), Becky Ramsey (.217), and Nikki Kozak (.121) supported Foulke’s attempts with 10 kills of their own.

“Our attacks got spread out a lot more and we used all our players,” Ramsey said. “It felt like a team effort and we worked really well together.”

Bradley (1-6) fell beneath the pressure of NIU’s new team effort as well, but Kosak alone proved to be a big enough problem for the Lady Braves.

Kosak produced 16 kills with just five errors in 33 attempts for a .333 posting during the Saturday match. The sophomore also led NIU’s backcourt with 18 digs.

Besides the Lady Braves, Kozak was probably the only one not completely pleased with her performance.

“I’d like to make less errors when I hit,” Kozak said. “And I want to be more consistent on offense.”

As a whole, Kozak was more willing to praise the team effort.

“I think the team felt a lot better this weekend,” Kozak said. “Our attacks got spread out a lot more and it finally felt like we clicked.”

NIU barely takes a breather before heading to Chicago on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match against Northeastern Illinois University. The Huskies then return home for the much anticipated Huskie Invitational, Friday and Saturday.