The NIU Volleyball team faced trouble near the end of the first set against Cleveland State Saturday afternoon.

After two straight errors, the Huskies found themselves down 20-15 and completely flat when seventh-year coach Ray Gooden decided to call a timeout.

NIU came out of the timeout on a tear, closing out the first set on a 10-3 run, including five kills from freshman Allison McGlaughlin.

“Some of the old stuff started coming back, and they were able to refocus and then make some really good plays,” Gooden said. “All I really did was just call timeout to kind of settle everybody down. It was our first time dealing with adversity here on the season.”

Whatever Gooden said definitely worked. The Huskies were able to carry that energy through to the second set, opening with a momentum building 5-1 run on the strength of three straight McGlaughlin aces. The run helped to improve NIU’s attacking percentage by nearly 300 points from .156 to .429 in the second set.

The real coaching gem of the day came as NIU was struggling to close out the match in the third set.

Down 15-19 and looking for an answer, Gooden made a move to shore up the Huskies’ defense by subbing in senior defensive specialist Jody Hardwick to serve for 2 time, second team All-MAC performer Meagan Schoenrock.

Gooden’s decision paid off as the Crystal Lake native keyed an 11-4 run to close out the Vikings. Hardwick provided both a consistent serving attack which included an ace to take the lead, and stellar defensive play including four huge digs that kept pivotal rallies alive.

“I just thought that she would put a real good serve on them, and that defensively she would help us out,” Gooden said. “It took away an attacking option for us, but our front row is good enough to be able to handle that.”

Hardwick’s play helped to propel the Huskies to a second place finish at the NIU Invitational and a 2-1 record to start the season.

“We really needed to put some serving pressure on them, and I thought Jody did an amazing job doing that for us.”

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