Being a leader by example isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

If you don’t believe that, talk to sophomore outside hitter Tera Lobdell.

“I say things when they need to be said,” Lobdell said.” I think it is more important to lead by example because talk is just talk.”

Lobdell has done more than her share of leading by example this season.

Despite only playing in 22 of the team’s 25 matches, she leads the team in kills (291), total attacks (791), kills per game (3.55) and service aces (28).

Even with Lobdell’s quiet demeanor, coach Ray Gooden can see what she will be able to do for the Huskies in the future.

“As she develops as a player, she will be looked at to be a leader for us,” Gooden said. “As time goes on, I think that her vocal leadership skills will develop more.”

Lobdell, last season’s MAC Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention All-MAC, wasn’t always quiet on the floor.

She said that she got on players more before college because they didn’t know what they were doing on the court.

“In high school, I was a lot more vocal,” Lobdell said. “In college, these players have been playing since they were young and they know what they are doing so I can lead by example. In the next couple of years, I will become a better vocal leader.”

This strategy of getting on her teammates must have worked as Lobdell led her high school, Robbinsdale, to a perfect season and a Class 3A state championship.

When Lobdell was in high school, she played for the Northern Lights club volleyball team. At the Sports Performance Invitational Junior Classic in 1999, she was named the Best Attacker.

She had success in high school and her freshman year in college, but this season has been far from last season’s 24-6 record.

“We are inexperienced,” Lobdell said. “We were pretty much thrown together. When you are thrown together, it is hard to get team chemistry. You’ve seen how we have played and it shows on the court, we don’t know each other’s tendencies.”

NIU will lose four contributing seniors in Jen VonderHaar, Tenisha Wilkins, Jenny Rohren and Rena Widboom, but it has given some of its younger players some valuable playing experience.

This season might not be lost yet as the Huskies still have a chance at becoming a No. 8 seed in the MAC Tournament, but Lobdell sees things getting brighter in the near future.

“I think that we have some great players coming in,” she said. “If we work twice as hard next year, I think that we will be serious contenders for the MAC title next year.”