NIU Huskies - Volleyball

DeKALB – Northern Illinois volleyball coach Ray Gooden wants freshman Justine Schepler to "be like a sponge and soak everything in" during her first season with the Huskies.

Sophomore middle blocker Mary Kurisch paced a well-rounded attack as the undefeated Northern Illinois volleyball team swept Bradley, 3-0, at Victor E. Court Tuesday night. The 25-14, 25-17, 25-15 win improved NIU to 5-0, marking its best start since 1998, as the Huskies wrapped up a perfect five-match home stand to begin the 2010 campaign.

Coming into Northern Illinois University as the volleyball program's first high school All-American might have put some pressure on freshman outside hitter Lauren Wicinski to perform at a high level quickly.

After losing just one set in its first three matches of the 2010 season, including a sweep of South Dakota to start the day, the Northern Illinois volleyball team found itself in a dog fight to claim the NIU Invitational crown over the College of Charleston with an thrilling five-set victory Saturday at Victor E. Court.

INDIANAPOLIS – Prep players may have to wait a little longer to start accepting scholarship offers.

All 17 of Northern Illinois University’s intercollegiate athletic team have surpassed the academic standards measured by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Academic Progress Rate for 2008-09, marking the fifth consecutive year that every NIU team has made the grade. The NCAA released its complete 2008-09 Division I APR report Wednesday.

The top Mid-American Conference institutional awards were handed out Wednesday as Kent State was awarded the Reese Trophy representing the top men's athletic program and the Jacoby Trophy representing the top women's athletic program.

After undergoing an 18-month, campus-wide effort to study its intercollegiate athletics program as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletics certification program, Northern Illinois University has received the highest classification of "certified," the NCAA announced Thursday. This is the third time Northern Illinois has successfully gone through the organization's certification process.

Justine Schepler to join NIU's volleyball team

Kristin Hoffman will only be able to walk the walk for a few hours at Northern Illinois' Relay for Life event next month.

Taking nominations now

Three Northern Illinois volleyball players earned All-Mid-American Conference recognition Thursday night at the MAC's annual awards banquet, as junior Maddie Hughes became NIU's first ever MAC Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the second team All-MAC, along with sophomore Allison McGlaughlin, while senior Meagan Schoenrock earned a spot on the first team All-MAC.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - After earning an important win last night over Eastern Michigan, the Northern Illinois volleyball team could not do the same on Saturday night against Central Michigan in the final Mid-American Conference match of the regular season, as the Huskies fell in three sets at the Rose Center.

Courtesy of NIU Media Relations

Courtesy of NIU Media Relations

Courtesy of NIU Media Relations

Prior to joining the Northern Illinois women’s volleyball team, Maddie Hughes bounced between positions for her club and high school teams.

Senior outside hitter Meagan Schoenrock dished out 18 kills on a .484 hitting effort and the Huskies out-dug visiting Kent State 47-37, leading to the Northern Illinois volleyball team's convincing three-set sweep (25-22, 25-12 and 30-28) over the Golden Flashes in front of a school-record 731 fans at Victor E. Court Saturday night.

Northern Illinois volleyball junior Maddie Hughes garnered her third Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week award of the season Monday as she helped the Huskies go 2-0 over the weekend to earn their first two conference road wins of the season and extend their winning streak to five matches.

AKRON, Ohio - The Northern Illinois volleyball team extended its winning streak to five matches and earned its second consecutive Mid-American Conference road win as the Huskies defeated Akron in four sets on Saturday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois volleyball team earned its first Mid-American Conference road win of the season as the Huskies defeated Buffalo, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, to even their record to 10-10, 4-3 in league play Friday night at Alumni Arena.

With the match tied 2-2 and the score tied 11-11 in the fifth set, Northern Illinois took the lead over Central Michigan after a ball handling error by Stephanie Budde. Then NIU sophomore Allison McGlaughlin delivered a kill on the next sequence and followed with an ace on the next play to put the Huskies up 14-11.

Northern Illinois volleyball junior libero Maddie Hughes was named Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season after helping the Huskies to their first conference win of the season over the weekend.

DeKALB – The Northern Illinois volleyball team picked up its first Mid-American Conference win of the season by sweeping Miami (Ohio), 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, on Saturday night at Victor E. Court during NIU's homecoming weekend as the Huskies (7-10, 1-3 MAC) out-blocked the RedHawks (8-8, 3-1) 15 to seven and stayed ahead of Miami for nearly the entire match.

TOLEDO, Ohio – After winning the fourth set to force a fifth, the Northern Illinois volleyball team fell behind 8-6 at the turn, and then with Toledo leading 11-10, the Rockets ran off three straight points to give themselves an opportunity for match point behind a kill by Amber DeWeerdt and a pair of Huskie attack errors.

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Northern Illinois volleyball team fell in its Mid-American Conference opener on Friday night, losing to Ball State, 25-13, 25-15, 25-16, at John E. Worthen Arena as the Cardinals (8-6, 1-0 MAC) out-killed the Huskies (6-8, 0-1 MAC) by a total of 42 to 25.

With a 2-1 advantage in the match, the Northern Illinois volleyball team found itself down 24-23 in the fourth set to DePaul (6-8), just a match point away from going to a fifth set.

INDIANAPOLIS – Myles Brand, who fired Bob Knight as Indiana University basketball coach and went on to become NCAA president, died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 67.

With the Northern Illinois volleyball team up 2-1 in the match, Milwaukee staged a late rally from behind in the fourth set and carried the momentum into the fifth set to claim a 25-22, 23-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-10 win over the Huskies on Tuesday night at Victor E. Court.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Northern Illinois volleyball team picked up its fifth win of the season after sweeping Tennessee State 3-0 on Saturday morning in the Huskies' (5-6) final match at the Lady Topper Volleyball Invitational at Western Kentucky University, giving NIU a third-place finish.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Northern Illinois volleyball team dropped both of its matches on Friday at the Lady Topper Volleyball Invitational on the campus of Western Kentucky as the Huskies (4-6) were beaten 3-0 by Memphis early in the day and 3-0 by the Lady Toppers in the nightcap.