Players and fans of the NIU and DePaul volleyball teams felt a sense of deja vu after the finish of last night’s matchup.

Just like last year, the Huskies claimed victory over the Blue Demons after four sets of play.

This victory didn’t come easily. The score was all tied up seven different times during the first set, and there were four lead changes. The Huskies went on a run and earned their biggest lead of the game at 23-19 after four kills from Allison McGlaughlin. Unfortunately for NIU (6-7), it was at this point that DePaul (6-8) went on a run of their own, and tied the score up at 24-24. After a few more points were exchanged, the Blue Demons came out on top for a win of 27-25.

Despite their loss in the first match, the Huskies came back in the next set with a vengeance.
“In game two we just had control from beginning to end,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden.

NIU grabbed hold of the lead at 7-6 and maintained it for the remainder of the set. They had a surge of momentum and took off, finishing up with a score of 25-16.

After each side had a win under their belt, one school needed to step it up a notch in order to gain the advantage. Things looked good for NIU for the beginning of the match. They gained the first points of the game and held the lead until DePaul tied it up at 15-15, and scored the next point for their first lead of the game. However, on the following play, DePaul made an attack error, tying up the game once more. After a service ace by McGlaughlin granted NIU the lead they were able to hold onto it for the rest of the game and won 25-22.

With a victory within their grasp, NIU confidently went into the fourth set.

“We felt pretty good [going into the fourth set],” said Mary Kurisch. “We had the momentum, we just had to hold onto it.”

In the closest set of the game, the two schools had the score all tied up thirteen different times, and the lead was changed five times. At the end of the match, the score was all tied up at 25-25. Both teams wanted the win. Game-defining moments occurred in the last two sets of play.

“The block by Kaitlyn Pascus and Mary Kurisch that got us to 26-25 in the fourth was a very big play,” Gooden said.

Once NIU finally achieved set point for the first time of the match, they knew they needed to finish. Kurisch delivered the final blow that lead to NIU’s victory as she launched a successful kill on the opposition.

“I just knew we had to put the ball down,” Kurisch said. “We needed to get that point.”

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