DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team will open the 2017 season this weekend as it welcomes Cal Poly, Dayton and High Point to Victor E. Court. The Huskies will meet High Point at noon and Dayton at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 25 before closing the tournament against Cal Poly on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m.

NIU's 2016 MAC Championship and NCAA Tournament banners will be unveiled prior to Friday night's match against Dayton. Friday is NIU Faculty/Staff Appreciation with two free tickets available to faculty/staff with a vaild ID. 

Friday is also move-in day at NIU; for the 10 a.m. and 12 noon matches fans will need to park in lot C3 on the north side of the NIU Convocation Center. From Lincoln Highway, please turn north on Presidents Drive (west of the Convocation Center) and proceed to lot C3 on the north side of the building. 

At Saturday's match against Cal Poly, the Jacoby Trophy will be in attendance as part of its year-long tour. 

"Everybody is excited for the opportunity to play against someone else across the net," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "I think the experience against DePaul helped identify some things to work on for this week, it also helped us get some of the initial first match things out of the way. We will be excited to play against three really good teams this weekend. 

"We have four solid teams here (this weekend) that are really looking for good starts. I think all four teams really have high expectations for the season, so they all want to play against good teams to get themselves prepared for their conference schedules."

Earlier this week the Mid-American Conference announced its preseason poll and all-conference teams. The Huskies were picked to finish second in the MAC West and junior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) was chosen to the Preseason All-MAC West Team. 

Dayton went 30-2 a season ago, including a perfect 14-0 in the Atlantic 10, winning both the league regular season and tournament titles while advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers return all six starters plus their libero from 2016 and were just three spots outside the top-25 in the preseason AVCA poll. 

High Point posted a 23-10 mark last season and won the Big South Tournament to earn the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers were selected as the preseason favorite in the Big South while outside hitter Haley Barnes and middle blocker Molly Livingston were chosen to the Preseason All-Big South team. 

Cal Poly returns nine letterwinners and three All-Big West honorees from a 2016 team that finished 18-9 and third in the league. Cal Poly was picked to finish second this season in the Big West preseason coaches poll. 

This weekend marks the 12th consecutive season the Huskies have started the season at home with the NIU Invitational. Last year, the Huskies went 2-1 in the event, downing DePaul and Loyola-Chicago while falling to Iowa. NIU is 8-1 all-time against Dayton, with the last meeting coming on Sept. 4, 1998, a 3-0 Huskie victory in the Dayton Flyer Invitational. The Huskies are 1-2 all-time against Cal Poly, the last meeting against the Mustangs was a 3-1 setback on Sept. 19, 2014 in the UCSB/Cal Poly Invitational. NIU will be meeting High Point for the first time in program history. 

Following this weekend's tournament the Huskies will play eight-straight away from home, beginning at Milwaukee on Monday, Aug. 28.