WASHINGTON | Volleyball ended its non-conference season 8-4 with its most wins since 2012 after winning all three matches in Washington, D.C., for the George Washington Invitational.

NIU, 14-3 under Head Coach Ray Gooden when the team travels more than 900 miles in a weekend, opened the tournament against James Madison University and won in straight sets, 25-19, 25-13, 25-16.

The Huskies played poised in their first match of the invitational against James Madison, committing only eight attacking errors in their match. Junior outside hitter Taylor Krage had nine kills for the set.

The Huskies played hard in its last two sets with a 17-5 run and into the third frame with a 10-2 run.

NIU blocked out the team defensively as sophomore middle blocker Meg Wolowicz led the Huskies with five blocks. Junior setter Chandler Kinley went on to record her second double-double with 11 digs.

NIU continued their success in the tournament against University of Tennessee, beating them in straight sets as well, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20. Senior middle blocker Jenna Radtke contributed with 9 kills.

NIU had double-digit blocks for the second time this season as they blocked 10 of James Madison’s spike attempts.

The Huskies trailed in the second set 18-16 but went on to deliver a 7-0 run.

Freshman setter Sam Boever led the Huskies in the James Madison match and continued to do so during the Tennessee match.

“I thought we did a really nice job of taking care of our side of the ball against James Madison, and I thought our serving, our passing and especially our defense created chances for us to score today,” Gooden said. “The Tennessee match was just a competitive game against two teams that have put themselves in positive places this season. I thought that we did some things with our block in the match statistically, but I thought we did a good job of handling their serve and scoring on our service”

To end the invitational, the Huskies won an offensive battle against host George Washington University (6-6) in four sets, 25-19, 25-17, 15-25, 25-19.

The Huskies took the first set 25-19. In the second set, NIU had a six-point run which led them to win it 25-17. In the third set George Washington led by as much as 11 points. NIU kept their lead and won the set 25-15. To end the game, NIU won the final and fourth set 25-19.

“I thought our team really handled the situation well today versus a strong George Washington team at their home, and that the middle hitters for both teams had strong performances,” Gooden said. “It was good for our group to handle George Washington’s energy plays with our consistent level of volleyball this afternoon.”

NIU will begin conference play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Victor E. Court as they host Western Michigan University. Entrance is free for students with valid OneCard.