With the absence of Kori Schauer on Friday night, NIU women’s volleyball squad depended on their depth that head coach Pete Waite speaks so highly about as they rolled through Cleveland State University 15-2, 15-0, 15-5 Friday night.

Schauer was out of practice most of last week with a lower back problem, but could see action again as soon as Tuesday.

“It’s just a day to day thing,” Waite said. “She probably won’t start (on Tuesday) but she’ll suit up.”

While walking all over CSU, the Huskies racked up 27 consecutive points that spanned over all three games.

“We made a lot of basic mistakes,” said Kristen Hartung of CSU. “Having five seniors gives them the experience and togetherness that we lack with seven freshmen.

The Huskies were lead on offense by Danielle Gerenz (11K, 2E, .450) and Amy Foulke (5K, 0E, .556) while Becky Ramsey carried the defense as she recorded eight digs and one block assist.

“We just didn’t play up to our potential,” Kim Young of CSU said. “They’re just amazing and not cocky about it either.”

In a Saturday afternoon match against Youngstown State University, the Huskies crushed the Penguins as they rolled to a 15-1, 15-0, 15-5 victory.

On fire at the line has been Rita Schultz who recorded not only three aces Friday night, but three more on Saturday to give her an NIU season best eight.

Waite was also impressed with the determination of Schultz to do well in practice as they both saw the benefits of hard work come alive this weekend.

“We’ve been working on her serve a lot in practice,” Waite said. “She’s got a great serve in practice and we were trying to have her bring it to the game this weekend and obviously she did.”

With Becky Ramsey’s nine kills, one error, and 12 attempts, she has been the team’s offensive leader for the past three games as she has put up a combined 26 kills, one error, and 42 attempts for a .595 hitting clip.

Since returning from California earlier in the season, NIU has allowed on average only 4.3 points per game while winning all eight of their conference games.

NIU has also stepped up to play great defense as they have only allowed their opponents a positive attack percentage only once in the last eight games. The Huskies have also recorded 21 service aces in the last two games.

Although NIU has just walked over most of its conference opponents this year, Western Illinois University will visit DeKalb in a 7:00 P.M. match on Tuesday, October 12, in what should be one of the more competitive matches in conference play.