The Huskie volleyball team opened up their season this past weekend with a 2-1 record in their first invitational tournament.

In its first game of the tournament, NIU defeated Chicago State in three sets, 25-13, 25-17 and 25-18. The Huskies were in control the entire match and found themselves behind the Cougars only three times.

“We had a really good team effort because everybody had a chance to contribute,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “Allison McGlaughlin served and attacked well, Morgan Johnson did some positive things after she settled down, and Kristin Hoffman did a good job setting in the third set.”

NIU had 46 kills and 11 errors for a .361 hitting percentage. The Huskie attack was led by Meagan Schoenrock with 15 kills and Cassie Yates with 10 kills. Freshman McGlaughlin shined bright in her first match with three serving aces.

Setters Amanda Tadla and Kristin Hoffman helped power the team with a combined 39 assists between the two of them. Maddie Hughes led the NIU defense with nine out of the team’s 41 digs.

Cleveland State

In their second game, the Huskies took on Cleveland State and won in three sets, 25-23, 25-17, and 25-23.

The Huskies trailed in the first set 20-15. After a timeout, NIU went on a 6-0 scoring run led by McGlaughlin with three kills. The Huskies won the set 25-23 finishing on a 10-3 run.

The third set saw NIU in a similar situation down 17-10 to the Vikings. Part of the Huskies final 15-6 run included the great play of Jody Hardwick.

“She went on a great serving run and that really sparked us,” Gooden said. “We scored all those points with her playing back row, serving and playing defense so she was a real catalyst for us.”

The Huskies eventually ended the set and the match due to the sets and a small serving run by Tadla.

NIU had 42 kills and 18 errors for a .247 hitting percentage. Schoenrock and McGlaughlin led the Huskie attack with 29 out of the 42 total kills. Tadla continued to anchor the NIU offense with 35 out of the 41 total assists.

University of Connecticut

The last game of the tournament saw two 2-0 teams facing each other in NIU and Connecticut. UConn overpowered NIU to take the match in straight sets, 25-12, 25-21, 29-27.

The teams’ height difference was evident in the box score as UConn finished the match with six total blocks. The Huskies serving caused themselves issues, having only one ace and eight errors.

Irene Johnson and Schoenrock led the NIU attack with 26 out of the 40 total kills. Tadla led the Huskies with 34 out of the 37 total assists and also led the team with six digs along with Hardwick.

“They did a good job exploiting some of our weaknesses in a couple areas, but we didn’t do a good job doing the same back to them,” Gooden said. “It was a big lesson learned about being able to make adjustments. We made some later, but we just didn’t make enough at the right times…we’ve got to learn that we can’t be the comeback kids all the time.”

Schoenrock and McGlaughlin were named to the All-Tournament team.