Sophomore outside hitter Jori Radtke put the finishing touches on Ray Gooden’s 300th career win, and the Huskies’ first Mid-American Conference win of the season with a match-deciding kill against the University of Toledo Rockets Friday.

The Huskies erupted into jubilation once the ball hit the floor for their third sweep of the season. The coaching staff embraced one another and the 328 fans in attendance applauded NIU as they shook hands with the Rockets in the middle of the court.

A chant of “300” broke out among the volleyball team. Senior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz said Head Coach Ray Gooden did not want the chants, but the team did anyway because the victory meant more than just the Huskies first MAC win of the season.

“I am for sure more blessed for [coaching over 500 matches] than I am about the 300 wins,” Gooden said. “I want to get to 550, 600 matches. It would be awesome to coach 1,000 matches here. To be able to do that for this period of time, I am very thankful.”

Gooden was already the winningest coach in NIU volleyball history. He surpassed former Head Coach Pete Waite for the most wins as a head coach in program history after the Huskies defeated the Bradley University Braves Sept. 2, 2016.

Now, Gooden is the only head coach in program history to tally 300 wins and currently stands at 302 victories after a win versus the Ball State University Cardinals Sept. 22 and another against the Western Michigan Broncos Thursday.

Gooden did not bask in the glory of the individual accolade, though. His players took note of his modesty after his milestone victory.

“He said, ‘It’s not really about me,’ but we were still celebrating,” senior outside hitter Autumn Martin said. “It’s about you; it’s 300 wins. It’s a big deal.”

Wolowicz said Gooden’s humble and unselfish nature is the embodiment of team sports. Gooden is not looking to receive recognition for the individual accolades that come along his journey as a head coach.

“I don’t think he ever takes his successes as himself,” Wolowicz said. “We are playing a team sport, and he puts his wins on us and his losses on himself. I think that’s what makes him a humble and respectful coach; he truly lets us celebrate and lets him take the losses to look for areas where we can get better.”

Gooden said there was a point during his career when he would have celebrated the milestone more. He said win No. 100 was a bigger deal for him because he never thought he would be able to coach that many matches or have that level of success, but his approach to coaching changed after being mentored by former head coach of the U.S. women’s volleyball team, Mike Hebert.

Gooden said he learned more from Hebert how to be consistent and even-keeled, as opposed to being emotional and living by every single play.

“[Hebert] really helped me get to a place where it was so much more about the kids and the process then it was about just trying to win,” Gooden said. “It helped me change my mentality with everything. It helped me coach teams a lot better because I wasn’t coaching for outcome, I was coaching a lot more for process.”

Gooden said he wants to be a level of stability as opposed to a level of energy for the volleyball team, so they can find their spirit within.

He said he is more appreciative of the longevity he has enjoyed at NIU and that he has been able to represent NIU in a positive way for 17 seasons. He said that achievement is more reflective of character than it is about outcome.