Volleyball sweeps Toledo in 1st round
Huskies take fifth match in a row, will now take on BSU
By Jarrod Rice
Sports Reporter
The dominance over Toledo continued for the NIU volleyball team in
the first round of the MAC tournament Tuesday night at Victor E. Court.
The No. 7 seeded Huskies (14-18 overall, 8-8 MAC) swept all three
games by scores of 30-26, 30-26, and 30-20 and beat the No. 10 seed
Toledo for the third time in a span of 19 days.
NIU will play No. 2 Ball State (19-9,12-4) in the quarterfinals Friday
at a tournament hosted by Bowling Green. NIU split its two meetings
with Ball State this season, sweeping the Cardinals in its last match
Nov. 6.
Against Toledo, the Huskies jumped out to a 16-6 lead in Game 1 behind
five kills from senior Tera Lobdell, who won her second straight MAC
Player of the Week award Monday.
“A good start is always important to us and we were able to
maintain it,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “We gave up some
points here and there, but we never allowed any big six- or seven-point
runs.”
Toledo (16-14, 5-11) grabbed its first lead of the match in Game
2, 8-7, but an 8-4 run by the Huskies put them behind for good.
NIU had a .140 hitting percentage in Game 2, which was its lowest
of the match, but still captured the win.
“We blocked hard and were able to key in the middle,” junior
setter Marie Zidek said. “I think even though we beat them twice
already, we had our backs against the wall because the third time
playing a team is tough.”
Game 3 was the Huskies’ best on both sides of the ball, as they
hit .410 and held Toledo to a match-low .116.
Lobdell and senior middle blocker Megan Markowski had seven kills
and five digs apiece in the clincher.
“They played us tough for two and a half games but as we continue
to play, we continue to communicate better,” Gooden said. “Right
now we are where the best teams want to be and we are getting confident.”
