Yes, the NIU volleyball team has won 12 games in a row. But coach Todd Kress doesn’t want to hear a word about it.

Running through both Kent State and Akron this weekend, the Huskies didn’t allow either match to go more than four games.

“We really haven’t talked a lot about the streak,” said Kress. “That’s one thing that I don’t let them talk about. I think when you start talking about it, it puts undue pressure on yourself. We just need to be talking about playing good volleyball down the stretch.”

Downing the Golden Flashes and Zips both 3-1, NIU has exerted little more than the energy necessary for them to pull out these wins.

Defeating Mid-American Conference East Division first place holder Akron in only four games is an achievement in itself, but with NIU dismantling the Zips the way it did, the Huskies are on a roll.

With the three wins against Akron, NIU won by a combined 29 points.

“We have the will to win,” said outside hitter Carrie Blankenship. “We don’t want to lose and we are going to do everything we can not to lose. We are playing to win right now, instead of playing not to lose.”

A big game from the onset, the Huskies were ready for a battle with Akron.

“Anytime you have the first-place team in the west going up against the first place team in the east, it’s going to be a tough match,” said Blankenship. “I thought that we came out and executed the game plan and played very well, so it worked in our favor.”

The key to NIU’s sparkling play this year can be attributed, according to middle blocker Rena Widboom, to the team’s continued development. While NIU is not becoming complacent with any of their wins, each win only adds more fuel to the fire that keeps the Huskies going strong.

“Last year we started off really well and then we kind of digressed as the year went on,” said Widboom. “This year we are getting better after every game. But the best is still to come.”

Kress is happy that his team has been playing as one big unit, rather than a bunch of prima donnas.

With players who are looking to fill roles, rather than have the spotlight on them at all times, NIU has been thriving off of the players’ unselfishness.

“I think we are just finding out that we are comfortable putting different people in different spots,” Kress said. “Last year we didn’t have a whole lot of depth, but this year we have more depth and we are able to run people in and out at different spots. We have players that are filling roles and we have gelled.”