After a gut-wrenching five-game loss at rival Ball State in the 2004 MAC tournament, NIU outside hitter Tera Lobdell walked off the volleyball court for the final time. With her departure, setter Marie Zidek knew the team was losing its greatest offensive player in school history.

But with the emergence of junior middle blocker Kate McCullagh and five new freshmen on the roster, Zidek hops the Huskies will carry over last year’s hot finish to the 2005 campaign.

“We will miss Tera,” the senior said. “She was the go-to girl and you can never just replace her. But Kate is stepping up to the challenge. Our goal is to put the freshmen on a steep learning curve and be competitive.”

As a four-year starter, Lobdell compiled 1,907 career kills to become the most prolific scorer in NIU and MAC history. The senior duo of Lobdell and middle blocker Megan Markowski accounted for 52 percent of the Huskies total offense (946 kills) and 64 percent of the team blocks (212).

To counter the loss of two veteran players, NIU coach Ray Gooden will place the offensive load on McCullagh and a freshman class which will see significant playing time early.

While McCullagh was the Huskies’ second-leading scorer with 451 kills and defensive leader with 146 total blocks, Gooden has three freshmen in his opening weekend lineup. Setter Jenny Dziubla takes on the responsibility of running the offense, while outside hitter Irene Johnson and middle blocker Joelle Beisel will join her as starters.

“We’re going to throw Jenny into the fire right away,” said the fourth-year coach. “We have a lot of athleticism on this team. We just need to work on our experience and expand their knowledge faster. But we also realize we have to be patient.”

With three days remaining until NIU’s first match, the 6-foot McCullagh is accepting the task of leadership.

“My expectation is to lead the team,” McCullagh said. “[The freshmen] have to see college volleyball. But after the first few games, we will expect them to step up. Right now it’s all about teaching and getting everyone on the same page.”

Getting everyone on the same page proved difficult in the first half of the 2004 season as the Huskies lost at least three games in a row on four separate occasions. But heading into the MAC tournament, NIU put together a dominating five-match win streak that included four shutouts before the season-ending loss to Ball State.

Despite the year’s end streak, Gooden is looking to avoid the slow start that contributed to last year’s 14-19 record. Closing out matches are one of Gooden’s areas of emphasis after NIU finished 5-13 in matches lasting more than three games.

“We are confident in our abilities,” said Gooden, who has compiled a 47-47 record as coach. “We’re using the ‘execution’ word a lot this year, because that’s the bottom line. We had a lot of close matches last year that we couldn’t close out, so we’re hoping to change that this year.”

The Huskies begin their season on the road at 7 p.m. Friday at Illinois-Chicago before returning home for a 7 p.m. match Saturday versus Northern Iowa at Victor E. Court.