To close up the last of its home matches this weekend, the NIU volleyball team saw nothing but sweeps.

The first game took place Friday night, as NIU took down Toledo 25-18, 25-22 and 25-18.

The Huskies asserted control from the get-go. In the middle of the first set, Toledo began to gain some momentum after scoring three consecutive points, but the short lived run was put to an end by a kill delivered by NIU’s Meagan Schoenrock. The Huskies ended as strongly as they began, winning 25-18.

Set two proved to be a little harder. Just like before, NIU was able to grab the early lead, but this time Toledo caught up. After a string of three net violations made by NIU, Toledo (14-10, 5-7 MAC) turned it into a one point match. However, for the second time that night, a kill by Schoenrock put a stop to Toledo’s momentum, and the Huskies were able to take down the Rockets.

After the intense battle of set two, the Huskies were able to defeat the Rockets with relative ease in the third, with a final score of 25-18.

“Cassie [Yates] really came alive in the third set,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “She made some really big plays for us and really helped us out.”

Toledo head coach Greg Smith declined to comment about its loss.

The following night, NIU (13-12, 7-5 MAC) was given a second chance to take down Ball State after losing its last match-up early in the season. This would be the last home match of the season for NIU. It would end bittersweet, however, as it fell to the Cardinals 25-22, 29-27 and 25-19.

“In the MAC, every match is always up in the air,” said Ball State head coach Dave Boos. “So you have to go into each game with a mind frame to win.”

The first set began with points being exchanged back and forth for several plays without either team gaining a significant advantage. However, somewhere in the middle of the set, Ball State (11-14, 4-8 MAC) was finally able to pull ahead and ended up winning 25-22.

After their loss in set one, the Huskies never opened up with quite the same show of confidence they had in the beginning. Despite getting within reach of a victory in set two during overtime, the Huskies fell to the Cardinals 29-27, and 25-19 in the third.

“My fears were just not being able to match Ball States’ energy,” Gooden said. “We just weren’t focused tonight. That was the part that was most unfortunate, because we’ve been playing some good volleyball as of late.”

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