The Huskies made a statement this weekend with a first place finish in the NIU Invite II.

The Huskies (7-5) have now won five matches in a row to answer their previous five match losing streak.

“I think it’s great to play like this at home; to defend our home court which we have not done to this level in a while,” NIU head coach Ray Gooden said.

“I thought we played so great,” NIU outside hitter Meagan Schoenrock said. “We all did our jobs, talked to each other and helped each other out.”

NIU dominated their opponents on the weekend stat sheet. Schoenrock was the standout player of the weekend with 63 kills and a .413 hitting percentage. Junior Amanda Tadla led NIU with 140 assists and also notched 29 digs. Sophomore Maddie Hughes compiled 56 digs in the 4 matches for the Huskies.

NIU won all four of its matches in 12 straight sets.

NIU opened up the weekend with a win over Towson, 25-21, 25-20, and 25-14.

NIU found itself tied at 19 in the second set, but was able to pull away with a couple of Tiger (8-3) errors and Schoenrock kills.

The third set was a preview of NIU’s dominant weekend. After a 4-4 start, the Huskies outscored Towson 21-10 and never allowed them to get within 3 points.

The Huskie’s second match found them facing Gooden’s former team and undefeated Loyola (9-2). NIU overpowered the Ramblers 25-22, 25-17, and 25-14.

“We were able to frustrate them,” Gooden said.

The Huskies opened up the first set with a 5-1 lead thanks to 2 kills by middle blocker Cassie Yates. NIU looked like they were going to pull away with a 16-11 lead, but saw it disappear very quickly. Loyola grabbed its first lead 17-16 with 6 straight points. The Huskies regained the lead and held on with 3 kills by Irene Johnson.

NIU trailed early in the third set, but was able to get away thanks to kills by McGlaughlin and Schoenrock. McGlaughlin helped the Huskies pull away with 8 kills in the final set.

The third match for NIU was aginst Fairfield (2-8), who had not won on the first day. The Huskies won 25-21, 25-17, and 26-24.

The Stags gave NIU a hard time early, but three straight kills by McGlaughlin tied the game at 7. The Huskies pulled to a five point lead at 15-10, but then allowed Fairfield back in the game at 16-15. That would be the closest that the Stags would get thanks to 3 kills from Schoenrock and 2 kills from McGlaughlin.

NIU took command in the second set with a long serving run from Walsh and never looked back. The set came to an end with an 8-2 run consisting of a McGlaughlin serving run to end the set.

McGlaughlin, Schoenrock, and Yates all finished with 10 plus kills in the match. Together they made up for 35 of the team’s 44 kills. Tadla finished with 37 of the team’s 39 assists and also finished second on the team with 11 digs.

The final match of the invite pitted NIU against in-state rival Bradley (3-7). The Huskies finished the weekend and the sweep with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 win.

The second set was the most eventful set of the tournament for NIU. The Huskies marched to a 13-1 lead, but Gooden made some moves that allowed Bradley back in the set.

“I take the blame because I was trying to run some things with Kristin [Hoffman] that we didn’t get a chance to connect with and it led to a bit of instability,” Gooden said. “It’s nice for Kristin Hoffman, who we think is the future of our program, to try and run the team.”

Gooden also got some substitutions in to give some players experience.

“It’s nice to get Morgan [Johnson] in as well as Dani [D’Ambrose] to help and make contributions because they’re just as important to our team as anybody else,” Gooden said.

Bradley ended the set on a 13-5 run, but still lost.

The Huskies were behind for most of the third set and were in danger of losing the first set of the invite, but were able to come back. Down by four, NIU closed the game to one on several occasions until they finally tied the set at 16. With one powerful swing from McGlaughlin, the Huskies were able to win the match and the invite.

Schoenrock, Hughes, and Yates were named to the All-Invite team.

“It’s a funny little honor because I feel like volleyball’s all about everybody as one,” Schoenrock said. “I just end the play.”