Buffalo volleyball coach Sally Kus knew NIU had the revenge factor and the home court advantage heading into Tuesday’s first-round match of the MAC Tournament.

After the match, the Huskies left Kus with no doubt that it was more than revenge and home court advantage that propelled NIU into the second round.

“I know they had the revenge thing on their side and the home court advantage, but you know what, they just played better than us tonight,” said Kus who watched her team get swept 30-27, 30-23 and 30-23.

The win extended the Huskies’ home winning streak during the MAC Tournament. Since 1980, NIU is 6-0 in DeKalb during the tournament.

In the first meeting between the two teams on Nov. 1, Buffalo (11-20 overall, 5-11 MAC) rallied from a two-game deficit to upset the Huskies (20-10, 8-8) on their home court. On Tuesday, the Huskies knew they needed to remain focused if they wanted to extend their season.

“We really let up the last time we played them, and we knew the outcome of the game shouldn’t have been what is was,” NIU middle blocker Megan Markowski said. “We just wanted to prove that it was a fluke last time and that we deserved to win.”

The No. 6 seeded Huskies will travel to Ball State’s Worthen Arena for a second-round match against No. 3 Akron (16-12, 11-5) at 3 p.m. Friday.

“[Akron] is playing good volleyball right now,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “It doesn’t really matter though; we’re going to have to go up there and play good volleyball against Akron.”

Led by Markowski, NIU had four players finish with 10 or more kills. Markowski finished with 13, while Tera Lobdell had 12, Brooke Dodson had 11 and Kate McCullagh finished with 10 for the Huskies.