Progress is what the volleyball team was striving for, and got, in their loss to a tough Wisconsin-Madison team.

The Huskies were defeated in a 15-8, 15-9, 15-6 match to the Badgers, who NIU coach Pete Waite said should finish in the top three of the Big Ten Conference race. The loss drops the Huskies to 1-5.

The road trip to Wisconsin was a good experience for the young Huskies who are still trying to blend their talents, Waite said, adding that the team should gel and be competitive for the rest of the season.

NIU’s defense was busy against the Badger attack as they outdug Wisconsin 56-46. Waite said, “I thought that the defense really played well, but we weren’t able to finish the games with the intensity and the competitiveness that we needed.”

Senior Jamie Steenblock provided the offensive spark for the Huskies as she led the team with a .364 attack percentage. She had nine kills in 22 attempts and one service ace. Junior Karie Niesen had a .193 attack percentage with nine kills in 31 attempts. The team posted a .133 attack percentage.

“We swung hard on offense and had an excellent defensive performance tonight,” said Waite.

Another senior, Laura Peterson, kept the Badgers busy with her consistent serving. Waite said Peterson’s serve kept the Badger offense in check. The Huskie transition game also showed improvement against the Badgers.

“We’ve been working on our defense and transition game in practice and it was a big plus for us,” said Waite.

The Huskie record may not be impressive, but two games against Big Ten teams were scheduled mainly for the benefit of giving Waite’s players experience against national powers. Waite said these tough matches excite his players and fire them up.

The Huskie boss is expecting a lot more out of his team after Tuesday’s performance.

“We’re making progress every game,” he said, “and if we can play hard and be able to finish off the games—we were actually ahead 8-2 in the second game—we should be good by the end of the year.”