DeKALB, IL – With four matches remaining in the regular season, the Northern Illinois University volleyball team looks to improve on its Mid-American Conference standing when it opens a three-match homestand this weekend against the Toledo Rockets and Ball State Cardinals.
 
First serve for both matches this weekend is at 6 p.m. Friday night's match against Toledo is Diabetes Awareness Night with post-match autographs. It will also be broadcast on ESPN3. On Saturday, NIU will honor seniors Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) and Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) prior to the match with Ball State for Senior Night.
 
"They bring skill sets that help our team and they understand their roles," said head coach Ray Gooden about the two seniors on this season's roster. "Their experience helps our group out and they've had happy positive impacts for not only this team, but our program as well."
 
NIU (8-18, 5-7 MAC) enters the weekend in a four-way tie with Ohio, Kent State and Buffalo for sixth place in the MAC with two weekends remaining. The Huskies dropped a pair of sweeps last weekend at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording 13 blocks in the two matches. Kemp tied a career-high with nine blocks against Eastern Michigan on November 1. Over the last four matches, Kemp has 23 total blocks and is averaging one block per set in MAC play.
 
"She's been working hard to improve all parts of her game," Gooden said about Kemp. "She's such a physical talent and we've seen that offensively, but it's great to see her be a threat at the net defensively."
 
Toledo enters the weekend 0-12 in the MAC after dropping a five-set match at Ball State and a four-set match to Akron last week. Ball State went 2-0 last weekend with a 3-2 win over Buffalo to move to 7-5 in the MAC and second place in the MAC West. The Cardinals are third in the MAC with 13.45 kills per set and fourth with a team hitting percentage of .215.
 
The Huskies wrap up the regular season with a home match against Western Michigan on Thursday, November 14 and a road match at Bowling Green on Saturday, November 16.
 
--NIU--