After the NIU volleyball team’s Friday victory over Ball State, one of the Mid-American Conference’s powerhouses, coach Todd Kress and athletic director Cary Groth knew it was a great victory for the program.

“It was a big win,” said Kress. “I don’t want to overplay the win because I don’t think we saw Ball State’s best effort and it didn’t mean anything. We didn’t wrap up a seed, we’re not the No. 1 seed yet.

“It was a big win in that our kids played well, they built a lot of confidence and they now know they can beat Ball State whether we play them here or away.”

The win took place in three games, 30-20, 32-30, 30-21. The Huskies played with a lot of emotion and the crowd seemed to fuel their fire even more.

With the stands packed, it seemed that every point sent the players and the crowd into a frenzy. Sophomore setter Jenny Bowman thought the crowd was a huge boost for the Huskies.

“I think the emotion and the attitude and the great atmosphere in the gym was incredible,” said Bowman. “There was just a feeling like NIU’s going to win no matter what and there going to win in three and they’re going to make a statement. It was definitely the best atmosphere since I’ve been here.”

Once again, NIU got great performances from their left side. Tenisha Wilkins finished with a match-high 17 kills and nine digs. Tera Lobdell contributed 15 kills and hit at a .609 percentage.

The next night Kress worried that his team might suffer a letdown against last year’s conference champion Western Michigan. However, NIU once again came ready to play.

The Huskies defeated the Broncos in three games, 30-28, 30-19, and 30-27. The win pushed the Huskies’ record to 18-4 overall and 13-2 within the MAC. Also, the win tied the all-time school mark with 15 consecutive wins.

Bowman had 50 assists, five kills, and 10 digs. Senior Jen Scarpino tallied three of NIU’s nine service aces, and the left side did their job again. Lobdell had a match-high 16 kills and hit at .542. Wilkins had 10 kills against what Kress calls the best blocking team in the conference.

Even with winning two games convincingly over conference foes, Lobdell knows that NIU can’t lose focus.

“I think that every team we play from now on is going to be a big match, so we’re going to have to play just as well as we did against Ball State,” said Lobdell.

Kress believes that even with his team playing so well, the best is yet to come.

“Each weekend we’ve gotten better,” said Kress. “I thought we played well against Toledo, came out and played better against Akron last weekend, and came out with our best performance last night against Ball State. There is still levels we can go to. I think our greatest level is yet to be attained.”

This weekend junior defensive specialist Coley Johnsen sat out due to follow-up problems with a concussion she suffered last weekend.