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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Huskies break streak

By Nathan Lindquist | October 20, 2004

After losing a season-high four-straight matches, the NIU volleyball team’s offense came alive Wednesday at home against MAC West-leading Eastern Michigan to take a 3-1 victory.

The Huskies (8-14 overall, 3-5 MAC) were led by senior outside hitter Tera Lobdell’s 25 kills and hit .400 or better as a team three out of four games before a crowd of 241 at Victor E. Court.

Both teams were evenly matched late in Game 1 until NIU scored four-straight points on the serve of freshman outside hitter Laura Baetzel to take a 26-23 lead. The Huskies held on to take the game 30-26.

“Baetzel was a catalyst for us in Game 1,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “It was really the turning point of the match, I think.”

The Huskies took the quick lead and never trailed in Game 2 as the team put up a .417 hitting percentage, paced by Lobdell’s 10 kills. The defense also came up with seven blocks to keep EMU (13-8, 8-2) at a .000 hitting percentage.

But the Eagles struck back in Game 3 and limited the Huskies offense to nine kills compared to 12 errors to take the game 30-16.

“We started to get comfortable because we got two games under our belt,” sophomore middle blocker Kate McCullagh said. “They scored a few points right away and we couldn’t recover and we played catch-up the whole time.”

NIU couldn’t get any momentum and trailed 8-7 in Game 4 until a kill by senior middle blocker Megan Markowski sparked a 12-1 Huskies run. Markowski’s 14 kills marked the fourth straight match she has reached double digits in kills and helped secure a 30-21 match-clincher.

“I haven’t been doing anything different,” Markowski said of her recent offensive improvement. “I’m feeling better physically and my ankle isn’t giving me any problems. So Marie and I are getting a lot more reps in practice to work on timing.”

McCullagh contributed 18 kills and said it was a relief to finish off the victory in strong fashion after losing their previous three home matches.

“I think it was a big confidence-booster for the team,” McCullagh said. “We just had fun. I think if we can keep doing what we did [Wednesday], there’s no stopping us.”

Sprangers, Guide lead NIU defense

By Sean Ostruszka | October 20, 2004

It’s been said that defense wins championships; it also doesn’t hurt in ending four-match losing streaks. Going up against the top team in the MAC West Division, the NIU volleyball team needed to step it up in some way to try and stop adding to the...

Streaky Huskies try to stop recent slide

By Nathan Lindquist | October 19, 2004

In the midst of a season-long four-match losing streak, the NIU volleyball team searches for a way to break back into the win column. NIU looks to bounce back against Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. today at Victor E. Court. Defense and the offensive resurgence...

Volleyball loses to Akron for fourth fall in a row

By Nathan Lindquist | October 17, 2004

Despite a school-record 35 digs from junior Megan Sprangers, history repeated itself Friday night at Akron as NIU lost its fourth match in a row. NIU (7-14 overall, 2-5 MAC) totaled 123 digs in a defensive battle, including 27 from senior outside hitter...

Volleyball team tries to break three-match losing streak

By Sean Ostruszka | October 14, 2004

When the NIU volleyball team takes on Akron at 7 p.m. today in Ohio, it will be a faceoff of two teams with identical conference records headed in different directions. The Huskies (7-13 overall, 2-4 MAC) are in the midst of a three-match losing streak...

Volleyball falls in 5 to visiting Oral Roberts

By Nathan Lindquist | October 13, 2004

Mental mistakes and service errors by the NIU volleyball team erased its 2-1 advantage as Oral Roberts handed the Huskies their third-straight loss at home Wednesday. The Huskies (7-13) committed 11 service errors and misjudged several serves in front...

Oral Roberts to visit NIU

By Sean Ostruszka | October 12, 2004

NIU volleyball coach Ray Gooden hopes that 7 p.m. today at Victor E. Court will be the right time. Coming off two straight conference losses, the Huskies take on Oral Roberts, which has the Mid-Continent Conference’s offensive player of the week the...

Huskies drop two at home

By Nathan Lindquist | October 10, 2004

Despite jumping out to first-game leads, the NIU women’s volleyball team’s home-court advantage disappeared as the Huskies dropped both of their weekend matches to conference foes Marshall and Bowling Green. NIU (7-12 overall, 2-4 MAC) saw its season-high...

Volleyball matchup makes match

By Nathan Lindquist | October 10, 2004

On the surface, Friday’s home match against Marshall was just one of many mid-season conference contests for the NIU volleyball team. But the subplot for the evening involved the two premier offensive players in the MAC facing each other for the first...

Huskies host 2 MAC matches

By Sean Ostruszka | October 7, 2004

After playing all four of its MAC matches on the road, the NIU volleyball team will get to play host when a pair of conference teams come to DeKalb this weekend. Marshall (8-6 overall, 2-1 MAC) and Bowling Green (9-7, 2-2) will play a Huskie team that...

Howard reminisces of playing days after record’s taken down

By Nathan Lindquist | October 5, 2004

While having a prestigious record broken in only six seasons may be disappointing for some athletes, Amber Howard takes it all in stride. With Tera Lobdell’s 21st kill in the third game against Bowling Green Sept. 25, she passed Howard’s 1998 mark...

Indoor soccer league gets new home

By Bob Grant | October 5, 2004

After two years and $2.3 million in renovations, intramural indoor soccer finally has a new home - the Chick Evans Field House. Before renovations, the field house was home to the NIU men’s basketball team. Now all NIU students can utilize the fieldhouse...

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