One word has become the NIU volleyball team’s enemy in the second half of the season — momentum.

After beating two of the top teams in the MAC West in Ball State and first-place Eastern Michigan, the Huskies let momentum swing against Western Michigan and Buffalo, who were a combined 9-13 in the MAC.

The Huskies came back in the first game against the Broncos, but WMU stole the momentum after taking the second game. NIU never recovered.

Against Buffalo, NIU had a 2-0 lead, but lost the third game and never bounced back as Buffalo took the final two games.

“We give teams a little bit of momentum and it’s tough for us to bounce back from it,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “The team has to work on solving the problem right now.”

Junior Tera Lobdell, who leads the team in kills-per-game (4.24) and service aces (35), knows the team needs to begin pulling together.

“When we lose, we go our separate ways,” Lobdell said. “We have to get back together and come back strong.”

The Huskies had a 13-2 record at one point this season, but lost two matches in a row to move to 13-4 en route to losing seven of their last 10.

Each NIU player left the locker room after the Buffalo game with a look of disgust and sorrow on her face after having a team meeting about what they needed to correct.

With four matches remaining in the regular season, Gooden is looking for a leader to emerge on the team.

“The level of leadership and accountability that we need right now, we don’t have,” Gooden said.