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GREELEY, Colo. -- Northern Colorado volleyball needed just seven players Thursday night to send a statement to the rest of the Big Sky Conference.

The Bears, who struggled a bit in the pre-conference portion of their schedule, needed the minimum number of players and just a little over an hour to send Weber State packing with a 3-0 victory in front of 768 inside Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

Senior Kenzie Shreeve led NC's charge with 15 kills, six digs and a service ace, and sophomore Breanna Williams joined her in double figures with 10 kills, eight digs and an ace as the Bears cruised to a 25-17, 25-22, 25-12 victory.

Northern Colorado (7-5, 1-0 Big Sky), in its fourth year of conference play, has sights set on a first conference crown and the players and coaches knew that a fast start was key. The Bears are now 3-1 in Big Sky Conference openers and 12-6 all-time against Weber State.

"We certainly didn't expect to only play seven tonight," Bears coach Lyndsey Benson said. "It's just the way things worked out. The group we threw out there in the first game really found a groove and really took control. It was great to see."

The Wildcats (1-10, 0-1) hung close for the majority of the first two games Thursday. The third game, which saw Northern Colorado shoot out to a 20-8 bulge, wasn't close and provided a solid exclamation point on the Bears' conference opener.

"It felt really good to get off to such a good start," said freshman-setter Marissa Hughes, who had 33 assists against Weber State and tied for the team lead with senior Breanna VanDerMost with 14 digs. "We've been working really hard in practice, and all the matches we've played so far have been getting us ready for the Big Sky."

Northern Colorado had hoped to finish its pre-conference matches with a better win-loss percentage, but the Bears still entered Thursday's match in first place in the league. That will, obviously, continue into their match Saturday night against Idaho State.

"Weber State is one of the historical teams in this league," said Benson, who's now 3-6 all-time against the Wildcats. "Their record is a little down this year, but that doesn't change the fact that they are one of the all-time programs in this region. We didn't talk at all about their record or any of that kind of thing with our girls. They just knew that Weber State has kind of had our number for the past few years and we were going to have to play great."