DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team is back on the road Thursday night to face the Western Michigan Broncos at 5 p.m. and returns home to face the Miami RedHawks at Victor E. Court Saturday night at 6 p.m.
 
Saturday night's match is NIU's Cancer Awareness Night. The first 75 fans in attendance will receive a free NIU Beat Cancer t-shirt. Due to the Trevor Noah concert at the Convocation Center that night, those coming to the match should park in lot C3 and enter through Entrance 5.
 
NIU (5-13, 2-2 MAC) split its weekend matches last weekend at Ball State and Toledo. The Huskies bounced back from a 3-0 loss to the Cardinals with a 3-1 win over the Rockets last Saturday. NIU hit .300 in the final two sets against Toledo, posting a .394 hitting percentage in the fourth set which it won 25-13.
 
Sophomore setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutchen) had a big weekend last weekend, averaging 12.14 assists per set. After dishing out 35 assists at Ball State, Balensiefer had her third double-double of the year with 50 assists and 10 digs in the win at Toledo. She also filled up the box score with four kills and tied a career-high with four blocks. Balensiefer is tied for second in the Mid-American Conference in assists with 9.83 per set.
 
"I think sometimes there's just little things that click," said head coach Ray Gooden about Balensiefer's play so far this season. "There's other things that make more sense to her, whether it's how to run the offense, manage situations, or how to manage yourself. A lot of her success comes from the fact that we're able to handle the ball a little better and score the ball a bit more. She's trying to get more people involved in the offense and trying to take some more risks when needed."
 
Western Michigan is 11-5 on the season and 2-2 in MAC play after also splitting matches at Toledo and Ball State like NIU did. Junior outside hitter Rachel Bontrager leads the conference in kills, averaging 3.85 per set. Libero Kathleen Reilly is third in the MAC In digs at 5.28 per set. NIU won both meetings against the Broncos last season, winning in four sets in DeKalb on Sept. 27 and rallying from two sets down to win 3-2 in Kalamazoo on Oct. 31. The Huskies have won 11 of the last 12 meetings against the Broncos.
 
"There was a stretch where we were playing so many five-setters against Western," Gooden said. "We have the utmost respect for them. We just know anytime we play them it's going to be a battle. They're physical and they scrap and we try to do our best to defend against it and find ways to score."
 
Miami is also 2-2 in MAC play after a 3-0 win over Buffalo last Friday and a 3-0 loss to Akron that put the RedHawks at 7-8 on the season. Sophomore Gaby Harper leads Miami with 2.64 kills per set as Margaret Payne averages 2.44 kills per set and a team-high 0.77 blocks per set. Miami won last season's meeting at Millett Hall 3-0.
 
"Both teams this week provide equal challenges where when they're hot, they're very, very good," said Gooden. "There's also opportunities where we can hopefully put some pressure on them and continue to work on our tempo and work on our style of play to challenge them as well."
 
Following this weekend, NIU goes back on the road to face Akron on October 18 and Buffalo on October 19.
 
--NIU--