A winning attitude, tougher defense, enthusiasm, youthfulness, and a touch of experience has become the winning formula for NIU’s volleyball team.

NIU boasts a surprising 6-1 record and will test the winning formula against Bradley University 7 p.m. tonight at Chick Evans Field House. The Huskies whipped the Braves last year in three games, but NIU head coach Pete Wait expects a more scrappy Bradley squad to arrive from Peoria.

“They (Bradley) didn’t have a very good match against us last year. I think they’ll want to come back and prove themselves against us (tonight),” Waite said.

The Braves are 2-7 and are led by blocker Lisa Gehlhaar who boasts a .296 hitting percentage and 36 total blocks.

No one, including the coach, expected such an outburst of wins from the young Huskies. “There was no way for me to predict how we would do this year with the large number of freshmen we have on the court,” Waite said.

A major impact on the Huskies winning attitude has been red-shirt freshman Kori Shauer, who imposes a threat to the Huskies’ opponents. “(Shauer) had a major impact, obviously. She’s come in and has been a major force for us. She provides us with some height, being 6-3, in which she can be hitting over a lot of our opponents—she’s a very strong attacker,” Waite said.

Shauer has always been an impact player. And her presence has also helped the Huskies to attack the outside with senior hitters Julie Kreiling-Zinke, Kari Niesen, and freshman Nikki Kozak benefitting from Shauer’s domination of the middle.

Waite expected Shauer to make contributions, but freshman setter Shauna Campbell has been the biggest surprise for Waite. “(Campbell) has been a great surprise for us. We expected her to come in and be in a back up role, but she won the starting job and she’s doing a fantastic job,” Waite said.

The Huskies success can partly be attributed to Shauer and Campbell, but the major reason for the success of the Huskies is their defense. “Defensively, we’re a much better team than we were last year. It seems we’re doing everything better,” Waite said.