NIU’s volleyball team came into the North Star Conference Championship match Sunday at Chick Evans Field House an underdog to Illinois-Chicago, but the Huskies went out champions.

The Huskies snuffed the Flames in a three-game sweep Sunday to win the NSC title and finish the season with a 22-8 record. Led by first-team All-Conference players Cathy Holmes and Julie Kreiling, NIU topped UIC 15-6, 15-4, 15-3. NIU won its last 13 games of the season after suffering a conference-opening loss at UIC on Oct. 19.

“Everything went our way,” NIU coach Pete Waite said. “It was a fantastic ending to a super season.

Kreiling led the Huskies’ offensive attack, connecting on 15 of her 26 kill attempts for a .538 hitting percentage. Holmes dominated the net with five solo blocks and four block assists. Elected the NSC Most Valuable Player, Holmes also chipped in 10 kills from her 19 attempts.

“We hit our peak right when we needed to,” Holmes said. “We knew the tournament was going to be tough, but we just took one game at a time. This is the best feeling in a long time.”

But the feeling wasn’t so great for a “tired” UIC team.

“I was suprised we didn’t respond a little bit better,” UIC coach Don August said. “We were playing very tired, and Northern played extremely well.”

The NIU spikers opened up Sunday’s semifinal action with a 15-4, 15-1 and 15-3 sweep of Akron.

Co-captain Holmes pounded 14 of her 19 kill attempts with only one error, while Amy Garrett chipped in 11 kills in 20 attempts with one error.

“This is the most consistent match that I’ve seen (NIU) play all season,” Waite said. “There were no letups and very few mistakes. The game was a real tribute to some of the players that are hurting after the long tournament play (Saturday).”

The Huskies clawed their way into Sunday’s semifinal game against Akron by beating DePaul 3-1 and then destroying Valparaiso and Cleveland State (each in three) Saturday.

NIU struggled with its serving (17 errors) against the Blue Demons in the tournament opener but still posted a 10-15, 15-1, 15-12, 15-12 victory.

“The serving was not there and the only way you can score points is to serve,” NIU head coach Pete Waite said. “So, we had to really fight hard for that win because of our serving problems.”

The Huskies, led by Cathy Holmes’ 16 kills, nine block assists, four block solos and .424 hitting percentage, showed signs of dominance in the first game when they pulled out to a 9-2 lead. But DePaul came storming back behind Dawn Gura’s 14 kills to take the game 15-10.

In the second game, NIU again built an early lead. But this time the Huskies didn’t let up and rolled to a convincing 15-1 win.

Julie Kreiling and Amy Garrett provided the power with 13 and 10 kills, respectively.

“We played some great ball at times and then we had some lulls,” Waite said after the DePaul match. “We had too many streaks. It was nice to see the good play, but we have to get rid of the lulls.”

No sooner said than done, as the Huskies jumped on their next two opponents and never looked back. Valparaiso, which took NIU to five games during the regular season, lost to the Huskies in a 15-3, 15-4, 15-12 mauling.

The hard-hitting trio of Holmes, Kreiling and Garrett again led the way with a barrage of kills. Holmes hit a season-high .750 with nine kills and no errors, while Kreiling led the Huskies with 10 kills and hit a .412 clip. Garrett was next with a .357 mark and eight kills.

As good as the Huskies played against Valparaiso, they were even better against Cleveland State. NIU defeated the Vikings 15-1, 15-3, 15-8.