NIU women’s volleyball started its season off on a great note this weekend, beating Indiana-University-Purdue University (IUPUI) (0-4) and Cincinnati (1-3) on the first day of the NIU Invitational.

Entering the 2011-12 season with a bang, the Huskies (2-2) defeated IUPUI 25-18, 25-15, 19-25, 25-13, led by outside hitter Lauren Wicinski’s 23 kills and 11 digs. Wicinski and teammate sophomore Sarah Angelos were both selected to the All-Tournament team for their impressive weekend.

NIU picked up the pace in its second match on Friday, winning in straight sets, 25-19, 27-25, 25-18.

The Huskies hit .458 against the Bearcats, marking the first time since 2009 that NIU has hit over .440 as a team.

Angelos led the way for NIU, hitting .625 without any errors.

Saturday, however, was not as successful for NIU.

Heading into Saturday’s matches against No. 14 Iowa State and No. 18 University of Northern Iowa, the Huskies felt confident they had enough to take down their respected opponents.

Confidence was not enough for NIU, who dropped its match to Iowa State (3-0) before falling to Northern Iowa (3-0) to wrap up the invite.

Despite winning the first set against Iowa State, the Huskies could not contain the powerful Cyclones, who won in four sets, 25-21, 17-25, 18-25, 21-25.

NIU hit only .224 against the high powered opponent, while Wicinski and Allison McGlaughlin both posted double-doubles. Wicinski had 15 kills and 13 digs and McGlaughlin recorded 10 kills to go along with 14 digs.

NIU could not muster a set against UNI, falling 20-25, 21-25, 20-25 in the final match of the weekend at Victor E. Court.

Even though the Huskies are only four games into the season, they were pleased with what they accomplished at the invite.

“I think the weekend was a really positive thing,” Angelos said. “We got to start off our season by playing some real good teams, some of the best ranked teams in the country. Seeing these teams and seeing how they play will help us a lot later in the season and it shows us where we need to be.”

NIU head coach Ray Gooden agreed, adding that in order to win against the top programs in the nation, his team must become more consistent.

Gooden, who is now 9-1 in season openers since taking over as head coach for NIU in 2002, also saw a need for his team to not cool down after jumping out to quick leads in sets.

“We just need to maintain things at a high level,” Gooden said. “If we can play at a high level, we have a chance at being successful. That’s what the best teams in the country do and that’s a conversation we want to be a part of. I feel that we can play with anybody, now we just have to do it at the right time.”