After leaving California, cruising through the first half of the season, then crawling out of Texas, the NIU volleyball squad had to think the worst was over.

They could downshift gears, walk over their opponents and hopefully be ready for the NCAA tournament.

With the exception of Illinois State University there was no one left on the schedule they were even excited about playing against.

This is how the team felt walking out of Huntsville, Texas, just over a week ago.

But now they have to face a hot DePaul team who has won nine of its last ten tonight in Chicago.

Sure they had just lost hope of gaining ground in national recognition. Eventually they said, we’ll show them in the tournament.

For the Huskie’s sake, however, they need to hope they’re not ready just yet to show them in the playoffs. They still have a regular season schedule they need to concentrate on in order to bring the NCAA tournament here.

Yet even if they were to look beyond their schedule, who really can stop them?

No one in conference seems to be able to. Sometimes non-conference teams can’t either. If the Huskies were up against a conference foe today, there would be no need question the outcome. But their not and sometimes things happen outside of conference that shouldn’t.

In the Greater Midwest Conference DePaul is sporting an 8-1 record while with a 15-10 overall record. They are lead by teammates Wendy Fahlstrom (372K .239 324D) and Sheila Carroll (786 assists) who together are at or near the top in every major offensive and defensive category.

With these two outstanding players it’s no wonder the Blue Demons have been rolling through their opponents as of late, but unfortunately for DePaul, NIU seems to have the edge.

Becky Ramsey is at her best, Kori Schauer is unstoppable, and Nikki Kozak has already killed more balls than she did all of last year.

Schauer is leading the Huskies with 256 kills, while Kozak follows closely behind with 235 kills and leads the team in digs (237).

So in the end, will DePaul win the match?

No, but they might score eight or nine points. The Huskies have let up more points in their last five matches than they did in the previous nine.

The Blue Demons are in the middle of an intense hot streak, but are they going to be ready for the Huskies?

Of course they are ready but so were many other teams the Huskies have faced.

As far as the streak is concerned, nine of eleven isn’t bad, but 16 of the last 18 for the Huskies is better.