A power outage and a Big Ten team could not stop the Huskies from improving to 13-1 this weekend at home.

The Huskies were set to take on Youngstown State on Saturday when about six minutes before game time, the power went out.

In her 32 years of working in the athletic department, Dee Abrahamson, NIU senior associate athletics director, cannot remember having to move a match, but after an hour in the dark, everything was packed up and taken to the Recreation Center.

“Six minutes before, mentally you’re warmed up as well as physically,” Abrahamson said. “I thought both teams did very well to adjust to the situation of ‘pack up, figure out where you’re going.’”

Two hours after the original start time, the Huskies began their home away from home match.

“I’m just really glad that our group didn’t take the different factors into account,” NIU head coach Ray Gooden said of the move. “They just did a good job of working their way through it and playing pretty well.”

The Huskies defeated the Penguins (2-11) in three sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-18) with help from all players.

“It was really good to get our full team in to get some experience,” Gooden said.

On Sunday the lights were back on at Victor E. Court for a match against Big Ten opponent Iowa. It took only three sets for the Huskies to take down the Hawkeyes (5-4). The Huskies now lead the all-time series 7-6.

“We started off real aggressive,” Gooden said of the first set (25-22). “We served well, we blocked well and we scored points in transition.”

The second set proved more challenging, resulting in four lead changes and eight tie-scores before the Huskies won 25-15. In the final set the Huskies played to four ties, but came back each time to eventually win 25-23.

Freshman outside hitter Lauren Wicinski led the Huskies on the weekend with 27 kills, while junior setter Kristin Hoffman added 52 assists. In the middle, sophomore blocker Mary Kurisch tallied nine blocks and 13 kills.