DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team begins a season-long five-match road trip this weekend, taking on Kent State on Friday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. and Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.
 
This is the third time this decade that NIU has had five straight road matches in the Mid-American Conference season. The last time it happened was the 2014 season when the Huskies went 4-1 in that span. NIU earned wins at Kent State, Ball State, Toledo, and Western Michigan and lost at Ohio.
 
"We just have to handle it as the Kent State and Ohio trip, and with that it comes with its own storylines," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Everybody's still fighting for positions not only to qualify for the tournament, but for seeding and championships. Everybody's still in it. We just have to handle it as Kent State and Ohio this weekend, do our best, get a break, and get ourselves ready for the next weekend."
 
The Huskies split its two matches at Victor E. Court last weekend, defeating Akron in a close 3-0 match (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) before dropping a 3-2 (25-19, 13-25, 25-21, 12-25, 15-17) to Buffalo. NIU has shown improvement in close sets since the start of MAC play, winning 11 of 15 sets decided by four points or less.
 
"Those close sets are going to happen in league play, and we have to be okay with playing those sets," Gooden said. "We also have to be okay with working from behind and with keeping a lead. We had all those scenarios in the non-conference, and the Akron match was a good example of how we can still play consistent volleyball from 20 to 25 and earn those points instead of people giving us those points.
 
Senior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) became the 23^rd NIU volleyball player to reach 1,000 career kills last weekend, reaching the milestone on Oct. 13 against Buffalo. Wolowicz has increased her kills total in each season as a Huskie. She has 348 kills in 23 matches this season, 60 more than she had in 2017. In conference play, Wolowicz is averaging 4.28 kills per set and hitting .234.
 
NIU is 9-2 against Kent State over the last 11 meetings. The Huskies have won four of the last five including last season's sweep of the Golden Flashes at Victor E. Court. Kent State split its matches at Toledo and Ball State to move to 2-6 in the MAC. The Golden Flashes won at Toledo 3-1 on Oct. 12 before losing 3-0 at Ball State the next night. Libero Erin Gardner is fifth in the MAC in digs at 4.91 per set, behind Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) who is fourth at 5.07.
 
The preseason favorite in the MAC East, Ohio is 3-5 in the MAC after losses at Ball State and Toledo last weekend. Jamie Kosiorek leads the Bobcats in kills with 2.78 per set, while Lizzie Stephens adds 2.77 kills per set. Simone Miller leads the MAC in blocks with 1.31 per set. Last season, Ohio snapped NIU's four-match winning streak in the series with a 3-1 win at Victor E. Court.
 
"Both teams have a strong presence in the middle," said Gooden about the Huskies' opponents this weekend. "Ohio has probably the most experienced pair of outside hitters in the league. It comes down to who handles the ball well enough as long as possible, because all of our teams are good in system. It's just a matter of staying in system for a long time and winning those out of system plays."
 
Both matches this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN's new subscription video platform which is available at a cost of $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. It is accessible vie the ESPN App on both iOS and Android devices, desktop, and TV-connected devices such as Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, and Chromecast.
 
--NIU--