During an interview Tuesday, NIU volleyball head coach Ray Gooden said he did not want the team to beat themselves.

By Saturday night, the Huskies (4-0) had not beaten themselves, but instead four teams to win the NIU Invitational.

After taking down Chicago State, Oakland and South Dakota handily, losing only one set against Oakland, the Huskies faced their toughest opponent in the College of Charleston (3-1).

“College of Charleston is a really good team…they are going to get their big kills,” said libero Maddie Hughes. “We just kept saying we’re a really good side-out team, and we’re going to pass the ball and score the next ball.”

The Huskies came out strong in the first two sets, beating the Cougars 26-24 and 25-15 before dropping the next set 25-27. In a fourth set that took a combined 14 points to finish, the Cougars came out on top 33-31. But the Huskies charged back to a 15-7 win, which included seven unanswered points.

“I thought we had pretty good balance from our players whereas before we relied on just a player or two players,” Gooden said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to work on.”

Individual efforts were awarded to Hughes, Mary Kurisch and Lauren Wicinski in all-tournament selections. Kurisch led the team with 10 blocks, while Hughes had a team high 66 digs. But it was freshman Wicinski who grabbed a lot of attention, leading the Huskies with 66 kills, 86.5 points and 18 aces.

“When she gets a chance to play, her instincts take over,” Gooden said of Wicinski. “She has a lot of volleyball savvy. She’s got a high volleyball IQ and does some really good things on the court.”

The Huskies championship win gave them their first 4-0 start since 2003. Gooden hopes it is just the beginning and hopes the energy on and off Victor E. Court continues.

“I thought our group fed off the crowd, but I also thought the crowd fed off our group,” Gooden said. “I hope the crowd realizes how much the crowd played a role in our success tonight because our team knows that. I hope it’s just the beginning not just for our team, but the crowd as well.”