DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team hosted the Western Illinois Leathernecks in an exhibition match Saturday afternoon at Victor E. Court. The two sides played five sets, with the Huskies taking four of them.
 
"It was good for us to get a chance to play somebody else today," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We saw a lot of positive things today from a lot of our players, as well as some things we need to work on. That's the whole idea of the preseason. We saw flashes of some of the things we've been working on."
 
NIU showed some signs of early brilliance Saturday, hitting over .300 in two of the first four sets. The Huskies held Western Illinois to a negative hitting percentage in one of the sets as well. Four different Huskies hit over .275 in the match. NIU held a 51-37 advantage in digs and an 8-7 edge in blocks.
 
Saturday's match was a chance for the young NIU roster to get some more match experience. With nine freshmen and sophomores on the team, every point on Victor E. Court could be valuable down the road.
 
"For the young ones, it's just going out there and playing, because they're good enough to go do those things and not get so worried about everything else," Gooden said. "When they allow themselves to just play free, we're great. The more they can sponge things up over the year, that's good for us. Hopefully this is a good start tonight."
 
The Huskies open the 2019 season on Friday, August 30 against Fairleigh Dickinson at 12 p.m. and SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m. on the first day of the NIU Invitational. NIU wraps up its home tournament on Saturday, August 31 at 1 p.m. against UC Riverside.
 
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2019 NIU Volleyball campaign. An individual season ticket for the upcoming season costs $35. The Huskie Pack Family Plan (four tickets for $95) is also available. Order your season tickets online, or by phone by calling the Huskie Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
--NIU--