Two weeks ago, the NIU volleyball team traveled to Ball State and was swept.

But an efficient transition offense, defensive communication and a rowdy home crowd of 564 helped the Huskies exact revenge Saturday with a sweep of the Cardinals.

“I’ve never seen a better team effort,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “Every single person on the team made incredible contributions. If someone got blocked, we covered it and dug it. The crowd had so much energy and the girls fed off the energy; it was pretty incredible.”

The previous meeting between the two teams saw the NIU offense struggle to a .108 team hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Tera Lobdell was the only Huskie to reach double-digits in kills with 22.

Lobdell led the team once again with 18 kills Saturday, but the Huskies hit .369 and committed only 12 errors, compared to 27 by Ball State.

Kate McCullagh was one of the creators and the main beneficiary of the quick transition offense. Besides seven blocks, the NIU sophomore middle blocker added 17 kills on 22 attempts for a .636 hitting percentage. But McCullagh was quick to praise her teammates who contributed to her play.

“I think the whole team stepped up to this challenge,” McCullagh said. “We played out of our minds as a team. I couldn’t have done it without them. I think we all did an awesome job.”

Gooden said McCullagh turned in her best performance of the season, if not her career.

“This was Kate’s best match by far,” Gooden said. “Maybe not statistically, but it’s the best I’ve seen her play. She was fantastic.”

With 15.5 team blocks, the Huskies defense set up the transition offense and held the Cardinals offense to a .036 hitting percentage. Ball State came into the match No. 2 in the MAC with 16.16 kills per game but managed only 31 kills in three games against NIU.

“We know their middles were big and strong,” setter Marie Zidek said, “but we knew our middles are faster, so that was a big asset for us.”