Volleyball

Victor E. Court was brought back to life this weekend as the NIU volleyball team hosted the Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational.

NIU (2-1) began the weekend on Friday night against Eastern Kentucky (1-2). The Huskies came into the match having not lost their season opener in 10 straight years.

The Huskies began the night down 25-29 against the Kentucky Colonels in game one. But with the game on the line, junior Amy Ward delivered two kills, followed by two Colonels errors to tie the game. NIU continued to fight, and eventually won the game 34-32.

Both teams would exchange blows as the night went on as neither teams could put together back-to-back winning games. This worked in the Huskies’ favor when they won the match in game five by a score of 15-13.

Men’s Soccer

NIU coach Steve Simmons reminded his team that the soccer season is a marathon, not a sprint. With that in mind, the team got a good start off the line as NIU (1-1) won its season opener 2-0 against Dayton (0-2).

The Huskies grabbed the lead in the 30th minute of the game when senior Jose Alvarado set up a header opportunity for junior midfielder Chris Rufa. 17 minutes into the second half, sophomore Steve Kolzow provided NIU with an insurance goal off a cross by senior Kevin Woerner.

Senior goalie Matt Corcoran held down Dayton defensively as he notched in his fourth-career shutout.

“Matt had a good game in goal as did our back line of Drew Jeskey , Rufa, and Steve Algozino,” Simmons said. “Those three are always kind of the unsung heroes, but the success often starts from the back and goes up field.”

Unfortunately every marathon has its ups and downs, and the Huskies experienced a down Sunday afternoon as the team lost 3-2 to Hofstra (1-1) in overtime. NIU was able to overcome a 0-2 deficit to force the extra period but in the end couldn’t muster enough to take home the victory.