Volleyball (4-3) traveled to the Hawkeye State for the second time in four nights and notched a 3-0 sweep on the road against Northern Iowa (2-5) Tuesday.

The Panthers had their recent dominance of the Huskies halted, with NIU taking the match in straight sets (25-21, 26-24, 25-23).

“I thought our pose and our focus was on point tonight,” said head coach Ray Gooden. “We did a really good job of playing together and playing without fear and also playing with confidence and with control.”

The win ended the 16-year drought the Huskies had against Northern Iowa, as they had lost 10 straight games. The victory was also Gooden’s first career win against the storied program.

NIU came out firing on all cylinders, claiming 10 of the first 13 points. Senior outside Mackenzie Roddy continued her stellar senior season, racking up 11 kills in the victory. Sophomore outside hitter Mary Grace Kelly hit the double-digit kills mark, as well, finishing with 12.

On the defensive side of the net, service ace machine freshman libero Anna Brereton put up a season-high 37 digs to go along with a service ace.

Junior setter Alexis “Pookie” Gonzalez came into the contest ranked fourth in the conference in assists per set, averaging 10.10. Gonzalez surpassed that against the Panthers, totaling 37 and also pitching in 13 digs to complete a double-double.

“Like Ray said, there is no one star player on our team,” Gonzalez said. “Everyone on our team brings something to the table, so everyone is ready at any time to come into the game and really put in work.”

NIU returned the favor after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls last season. The win was the first time the Huskies have won on Northern Iowa’s home court.

“Our goal was to be even against the state of Iowa,” Gooden said. “We lost to Iowa State, so we tried to do well against Northern Iowa. Just the level of energy and focus was really good. This happened in those first 10 plays; they really set the tone for the match.”

Gooden credited his players’ overall effort in getting the win.

“Our serving helped us in transition and our passing helped us with our offense,” Gooden said. “Our leadership was tremendous tonight. I think our teamwork was brilliant. We did a really good job of not dwelling in the past instead of looking towards the future. It was really nice.”