NIU proved that the second, not the third time, is a charm as the NIU volleyball team took first in its Country Inn and Suites Classic this weekend.

The Huskies (6-3) hosted their second tournament in two weeks at Victor E. Court.

“I hope that we are starting to realize that if we take control, it’s better than having someone control us,” coach Ray Gooden said.

On Friday, the Huskies took on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. NIU outscored the Phoenix 31-29, 30-27, 30-23 in three games to win the match.

Jen VonderHaar led the Huskies with 13 kills while Rena Widboom and Brooke Dodson chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively.

NIU had a team hitting percentage of .285, a noticeable difference of their .199 team percentage for the season.

“The team we played [Friday] is a good team,” Gooden said. “On Tuesday night [against Chicago State], a lot of times we made the mistakes [hitting]. We put ourselves in a position to hit at a low percentage. We did a lot of good things [Friday].”

On Saturday, both of NIU’s matches went the distance of five games.

Against Mississippi State University the Huskies and Bulldogs traded points back and forth with the score tied at 29-29.

NIU edged out MSU as both schools set single-game point total records as the Huskies held off the Bulldogs 45-43 in the first game.

NIU went on to win the second game but lost the next two games to lock it up at two apiece.

The Huskies went on to win the fifth game and the match with a final tally of 45-43, 30-20, 19-30, 24-30, 15-6.

VonderHaar again led the Huskies in kills with 21. Tera Lobdell added 19 kills and 10 digs as Widboom had 17 kills, one solo block and seven block assists.

In the championship game, NIU outlasted Saint Louis University 30-22, 30-25, 24-30, 27-30, 15-7.

It was the second straight match that the Huskies had a two-game lead they let slip away.

“When we play a two and a half hour match and only have an hour and a half to rest, that is where we really needed to focus as a team and I think we did a better job,” Dodson said.

In the Saint Louis match, VonderHaar equaled her career-high in kills in a five-game match with 22. She was not the only Huskie to set a career-high in the tournament. Widboom set career-highs in five-game matches with 17 kills and 50 attempts. Amanda Newlin set a career-high in block assists with five, then broke it in the Saint Louis game with six.

VonderHaar was named Tournament MVP while Lobdell and Dodson also made the All-Tournament squad.

With a four-match winning streak Gooden talked about the importance of NIU winning the tournament.

“It just builds confidence,” he said. “It is a great thing to know that our team can battle back and pull out those matches. It is going to help us somewhere down the road.”