Women's Volleyball | October 20

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team heads east to take on Toledo this Friday at 6 p.m. EST and Saturday at 4 p.m. EST in a Mid-American Conference West Division showdown.

"Toledo is a very physical team. They're very talented and we're all fighting for the same thing - we're all fighting to stay in the mix for not only a MAC Tournament bid, but also a MAC West Championship," said head NIU coach Ray Gooden. "Our energy is going to be really important in matching and surpassing theirs,"

The Huskies (13-6, 6-3 MAC) are coming off a pair of home loses to league-leading Ball State (15-6, 7-2 MAC) last weekend, but that's not dissuading NIU. The Huskies have been working tirelessly in practice and film sessions to work out the kinks that the Cardinals exposed.

"Consistency has been the emphasis in practice this week. Ball State put us in a position where we weren't as consistent as we have been. It was probably our most inconsistent showing of volleyball, both individually and as a team. Starting with me - I'm trying to be as consistent as I can with the team so that our team can be as consistent as they possibly can be with one and other,"

Toledo (13-7, 6-3 MAC) also fell to Ball State this past Wednesday in Toledo. The Rockets dropped the first two sets 21-25 and 16-25 before winning the third frame 25-22 to force a fourth set. However, Ball State edged Toledo in the final frame, 25-22.  

Notably, Ball State and Toledo swept the weekly MAC West Players of the Week awards as Maggie Huber (defensive) and Megan Wielonski (setter) brought home the nods for Ball State after beating NIU. Taylor Alt (offensive) won the award after Toledo split its series with Western Michigan last weekend.   

Both NIU and Toledo pace the MAC in multiple statistical categories. The Huskies are atop the league in kills-per-set with 13.92, digs-per-set at 17.50, blocks-per-set with 2.47 and opponent blocks-per-set with just 1.73. Toledo on the other hand leads the conference in opponent digs-per-set with 13.65, opponent assists-per-set at 10.29, opponent kills-per-set with 11.42 and opponent hitting percentage at .177.

NIU leads the all-time series with Toledo 49-13. The last time the pair met, the Huskies lost in straight sets (21-25, 21-25, 17-25) on Oct. 23, 2021 at Victor E. Court. Katie Jabonski (10) and Charli Atiemo (9) led NIU in kills.

Both matches this weekend will broadcast live on ESPN3. Click here to watch Friday's match, click here to watch Saturday's match.

"Toledo is well-coached, and Savage Hall is always a tough place to play. We're really going to have to continue to work on our side, get better, and then put it all together on the road against a really good team."