NIU volleyball is back on a win streak after beating DePaul Tuesday night at Victor E. Court. The Huskies improved to 14-1, and have defeated their past three opponents to carry themselves into conference play on Friday.

With the win, the Huskies tie last year’s total wins and improve to 21-10 in the all-time record against the Blue Demons (1-12).

Though DePaul came into the match with a one in the win column, NIU head coach Ray Gooden said the match was not taken for granted.

“It’s a rival,” Gooden said. “One of our goals is to do our best against Illinois teams. We worked really hard to stay focused on that. So the records don’t matter.”

The Huskies were able to take down the Blue Demons in three sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-14), with contributions from the entire team.

“I thought it was a good team night,” Gooden said. “Players like Allison McGlaughlin did a really good job, passing, serving and also attacking … I also thought that Sue Hayes did a good job tonight playing her role. We had a lot of good contributions from a lot of people.”

McGlaughlin finished her night with 13 kills, 13 points and 9 digs. In her serving and defensive role, Hayes garnered a service ace and a pair of digs.

Freshman Lauren Wicinski remained consistent, leading the team with 17 kills, 18 points and 12 digs. On Monday, Wicinski was named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

“I knew she was going to be an awesome player; I didn’t know how awesome until I started playing with her,” said senior libero Maddie Hughes. “She just makes everything so much easier on the court. I completely trust her which is [great] for a freshman to have that quality in her.”

Hughes earned 12 of her own digs in the match, but the statistics did not reflect her performance, Gooden said.

“Maddie played one of her best defensive matches since I’ve been here,” he said. “Not so much from a stats standpoint, but just from a control standpoint. I think she did a really good job of controlling the court in a really positive way.”