Consistency wasn’t a strong point for the NIU volleyball team this season, but outside hitter Tera Lobdell can’t be blamed for that.

Lobdell was named Honorable Mention All-MAC on Monday. She was the only Huskie honored with a postseason award.

“It’s a great honor for Tera and our program,” coach Ray Gooden said. “It’s nice to be recognized by the rest of the coaches in the league. She had a solid season, especially within the conference.”

The sophomore outside hitter led the team in kills with 348, digs with 295 and service aces with 32.

Within the MAC, Lobdell’s numbers were even better as she increased her averages in digs and kills.

“Tera is the player we look to on offense, and her consistency is something we’re looking to build upon for next season,” Gooden said. “With Jen (VonderHaar), Tenisha (Wilkins) and Rena (Widboom) gone next year we’re looking for her to take more of a leadership role on and off the court.”

Last season the Huskies became the first team to sweep the conference awards as they had coach of the year, player of the year, and freshman of the year. This season though was frustrating to Lobdell, who experienced being on a losing team for the first time.

“It’s frustrating to come off a winning season last year,” Lobdell said. “I’ve never been on a losing team, but we had a new coach and six new players so I think we’ll be able to gel better next year.”

Filling the holes

With Widboom, Wilkins and VonderHaar gone to graduation, Gooden has wasted no time replacing them.

April Hankton of Colonial Heights, Minnesota, and Kate McCullagh of Woodstock are the latest Huskies as they were signed on Monday.

“April is an outside hitter who had a successful club season and was an AAU All-American,” Gooden said. “Kate is a middle blocker who was just named Honorable Mention All State for Illinois. They are both very athletic and talented and we are planning for them to help out immediately.”

Looking toward the future

The season ended only a week ago, but already workouts will begin according to Gooden.

“We’re going to start lifting [today] and start individual offseason practice on Jan. 14,” Gooden said. “Spring practice will run from mid-February until mid-April. We just need to establish more consistency for next year and we’ll have to start now.”

Lobdell agrees with Gooden that the workouts can only help the team.

“Last year we didn’t have a spring season because of everything that went on,” the sophomore outside hitter said. “The older girls told me that as a freshman, the spring season is where you learn the most and last year I missed out on that. I’m looking forward to (Gooden) showing me what I need to work on.”