Women's Volleyball | November 10

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team heads to Eastern Michigan for a two-game weekend series as the regular season winds down. The Huskies are in the hunt for a 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament berth; two wins versus the Eagles would be a huge boost in that quest.

After splitting its series with Central Michigan (16-10, 9-6 MAC) last weekend, NIU (15-10, 8-7 MAC) saw Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) named the week 11 MAC West Co-Defensive Player of the Week after eclipsing 1,000 career digs in just two seasons. Bertucci also averaged seven digs per-set through the weekend, anchoring the Huskies' backcourt. Additionally, Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) hit .583 in Saturday's four-set win, a career-high.

The History: NIU leads the all-time series with the Eagles (5-22, 4-11 MAC) by a margin of 36-29. The last time the pair met, the Huskies fell in five sets (25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-10) at home. Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) became the first Huskie since Lauren Wicinski in 2011 to have seven service aces in a match, one shy of tying the program single-match record.

Scouting EMU: The Eagles rank tenth in the MAC's overall standings with a RPI ranking of 262. Efficient on the serve, EMU has the sixth best service ace average in the league with 1.42 per-set. Samantha Basham paces EMU's attack with 2.66 kills per-set while Raeven Chase is close behind with 2.38. Chase also averages 1.30 blocks per-set, a team-best. Kendall Burk, the Eagle's setter, averages 6.97 assists per-set.

Friday's match starts at 6 p.m. EST and will broadcast on ESPN3. Likewise, first serve on Saturday is set for 4 p.m. EST and will also stream on ESPN3.