After an intense game, the NIU’s women’s volleyball team defeated Ball State 3-1 Tuesday.

The game marked the third time the Huskies played against the Cardinals this season.

“The toughest thing about this game is that we have played Ball State just a few days ago,” Coach Ray Gooden said. “[Ball State] had nothing to lose.”

The Huskies started strong and won the first round with a 10 point lead (30-20). Winning the first game, the Huskies looked in control to take the match, however the Cardinals came back in game two, winning 27-30.

A majority of points were scored not by the opposing team, but because of errors made by NIU.

“We could have done better, but we’re a young team,” Gooden said.

Center Mandi Caputo felt the sentiment’s as Gooden.

“I had a couple of double touches and we could have been better with defense,” Caputo said.

Gooden stressed teamwork and defense throughout the game.

“We really need to focus on taking care of the ball on our side of the court more than anything,” he said.

Several players, such as outside hitter Laura Baetzel who had 19 kills in the game, helped the Huskies move closer to a victory.

During Game 3 the Huskies took another large lead before Ball State closed the gap late in the quarter. The comeback was not enough to win and NIU won game three (30-19).

Toward the end of the night, during Game 4, both teams tied at several points in the quarter before NIU took the lead and won the game 30-28.

This victory secures NIU’s place in the MAC tournament which is set to happen this weekend in Toledo, Ohio.

“I’m really excited to be moving on to the tournament in Ohio,” said right side Irene Johnson. “We really needed this win or else we would have been eliminated.”