After a win against Akron Friday, the NIU volleyball team committed 58 errors in a loss to Kent State Saturday.

The error count was the second-highest total this season.

The Huskies committed 61 errors against Western Kentucky Aug. 30 during the Best Western DeKalb Inn and Suites Invitational. NIU won that match in four games.

The Huskies (13-3, 2-2 MAC) didn’t have any service return errors in their match against the Zips. The Huskies committed 11 in their match against the Golden Flashes.

“We focused so much [in the Kent State match] on really working hard with passing the ball and not letting them get aces,” said junior middle blocker Megan Markowski. “I think we just kind of relaxed too much on that, as opposed to what we did yesterday. That’s what got us in trouble.”

During Friday’s match, the Zips committed more errors than the Huskies. NIU returned the favor the next night by having three more errors than the Golden Flashes.

NIU coach Ray Gooden said his team needs to work on communication and passing, two things he didn’t think were done well Saturday.

“We just weren’t disciplined for some reason,” Gooden said. “When you get into conference, everything gets more intense. You have to be a lot more focused mentally and physically.”