Look up the word amazing and the definition may have changed over the weekend to mean “the NIU volleyball team.”

In the minds of anyone on hand for the Huskie Invitational, the definition has stuck. NIU captured the tournament crown by going undefeated and received two all-tournament player awards that went to junior Wendy Mason and sophomore Amy Foulke—who was also named tournament MVP.

“I said before we started that we could go 2-1,” NIU head coach Pete Waite said. “We could’ve been 1-2 or anything, but I said 3-0 would be fantastic and we did it. That says a lot for the team and the way they’re playing right now.”

NIU began the tournament Friday by defeating the University of Dayton (15-11, 15-5, 15-11). Foulke displayed her MVP style by dominating the court with (here we go) an amazing 21 kills in 28 attempts (.607) and four blocks. Defensive specialist Amy Vander Meer had a team-high 14 digs while Wendy Mason followed up both teammates’ efforts with 12 kills and 11 digs.

Saturday, the Huskies beat Central Michigan University (15-9, 12-15, 15-11, 15-8) in a victory led by sophomore Nikki Kozak who delivered 12 kills in 31 attempts for a .290 average. Kozak also contributed 10 digs while Foulke led all blocks with six.

If the Huskies appeared a little sluggish against CMU blame it on “energy-conservation”. With the tournament championship at stake and both teams standing at 2-0, NIU was charged up and once again “amazing” when it faced the University of Northern Iowa later that evening.

NIU came out on top, (7-15, 15-10, 16-14, 15-11.) in a down-to-the-wire match led by some new and old faces.

“Northern Iowa came out really strong and aggressive and we were a little timid,” Waite said. “It’s great that we woke up and started raising our level of play and took it to them.”

Two of the “old” faces, Kozak and Foulke, topped the kill charts with 14 and 13 hits respectively, while Vander Meer led in team digs with 17 passes.

But chalk one up for NIU’s bench and newcomer Danielle Gerenz who lit up the floor in the match-winning fourth game.

“We really had a strong bench effort,” Waite said. “Danielle Gerenz came in as a freshman and just saved the match for us—she got the match going again until everybody started getting excited and things started happening.”

NIU upped its season record to 9-1 through its tournament successes which is a win away from being the best start ever for the Huskies since 1972, when NIU went 9-2.

“We’re playing at a much higher level right now,” Waite said. “We’re ready for bigger and better teams … and we’re still growing.”