Education began early for the NIU volleyball team, as it went 1-2 this weekend in the NIU Invitational.

The Huskies began their campaign against Indiana where NIU held a 2-to-1 game advantage going into the fourth game but was unable to win the match.

In the fourth contest, NIU only managed to post a team attack percentage of .023, losing the game 30-20. A deciding fifth match didn’t produce better results. The Huskies lost 15-10, and compiled a -.111 team attack percentage.

“I thought we had some good energy in games two and three, but we weren’t able to get it in games four and five,” NIU head coach Ray Gooden said. “We’re trying to find out some things about us right now.”

A few hours later, the Huskies were back on Victor E. Court facing Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers gave up seven points to the Huskies on service errors in the first game.

However, WKU won Game 1, as it posted a .457 team attack percentage.

Junior outside hitter Irene Johnson led the Huskies with 12 kills against the Hilltoppers. But it wasn’t enough, as NIU continued to struggle as a team. In the three game match, the highest team attack percentage posted by NIU was .067.

NIU entered Sunday’s finale against Western Illinois looking for its first win of the season.

It only took three games for NIU to achieve that goal, as the Huskies won 30-22, 30-22, 30-27.

“As a team we’ve now lost and won,” outside hitter Laura Baetzel said. “We now know how it feels to lose and come back the next day.”

Baetzel, a senior, led the Huskie attack with 15 kills, and Johnson added another 12 in the NIU victory.

The Huskies also had nine service aces against WIU, as freshman libero Maddie Hughes served three unreturnable balls. Setter Mandi Caputo and defensive specialists Jody Hardwick and Maria Benitez all recorded two services aces.

“It feels good to get a win,” Caputo said. “It should have come a lot earlier.”

Another bit of good news came for the Huskies after the final match. With 41 kills in three games, Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team.

“I thought she had a really positive weekend,” Gooden said. “We’re hoping she continues to make those steps.”