Women's Volleyball | October 13

DeKALB, Ill. – After winning 10 of its last 11 contests and atop the Mid-American Conference standings, the Northern Illinois University volleyball team hosts the Ball State Cardinals this Friday and Saturday at Victor E. Court.

NIU (13-4, 6-1 MAC) saw two student-athletes named to the MAC West Players of the Week list in Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) after the Huskies beat Bowling Green and Miami (OH) at home this past weekend. NIU beat the Falcons in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) and the RedHawks in straight sets (25-21, 25-13, 25-23).

Mihacevich earned her second-straight and third Setter of the Week award of the year after posting 82 assists (11.71/set) through the pair of wins. Atiemo tallied 15 blocks (2.14/set) to win her second MAC Player of the Week honor this season.

With the team clicking on all cylinders, multiple Huskies are making noise in the national and conference statistical categories: Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) leads the MAC and is 3rd nationally with 5.98 digs/set, Mihacevich is second in the MAC and 19th nationally with 10.76 assists/set while Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) leads the MAC and is 30th nationally with her 1.31 blocks/set average.

"We are fortunate to be where we are right now in the MAC and statistically, we are in first place," said head volleyball coach Ray Gooden. "But the other five teams in our division are within a match or two of us and it starts with Ball State,"

Ball State (12-6, 4-2 MAC), who was predicted to repeat as MAC champions, enter the weekend after beating Buffalo and Akron last weekend on its home floor. Behind NIU, the Cardinals have the second-best digs-per-set mark in the league with 17.19. Ball State's Marie Pitt is third in the conference with a .386 hitting percentage while Megan Wielonski averages .43 aces-per-set.       

The Huskies are the sole MAC team that owns an all-time series lead over Ball State, with a 28-26 lead. However, the Cardinals won each of last year's matchups versus NIU in straight sets in Muncie, Ind.

As of Oct. 13, NIU is 94^th in the NCAA's rating percentage index (RPI). RPI is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. Relatively, Ball State is No. 108.

"Ball State is a traditional powerhouse. They're defending champions. They had great success last year doing historic things and a lot of those players returned. We know we have to give them full respect. We have not seen Ball State at Victor E. Court in a while just like Bowling Green. So, we're excited to welcome them here this weekend,"