DEKALB, Ill. – The NIU women's soccer team is the lone team competing on campus this weekend as it hosts Miami on Sunday for Senior Day. Huskie football and volleyball both travel to the State of Ohio for conference games this weekend while men's soccer, men's golf and women's tennis are also in action this week in Huskie athletics. 

Football
Saturday, October 7: at Akron, 2:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats

NIU Football heads back east to Ohio this week to take on the Akron Zips at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Huskies took the defending MAC champions Toledo down to the wire last week, but ran out of time on their final drive in a 35-33 loss. NIU had a season-high 444 yards of total offense, led by 258 passing yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Rocky Lombardi. Running Back Antario Brown rushed for a season-high 152 yards with his 80-yard run in the first quarter setting up NIU's first touchdown of the game. The Huskies scored their first defensive touchdown of the season on a 50-yard fumble recovery by safety Nate Valcarcel. NIU is 11-6 all-time against the Zips and had won six straight games against Akron before the Zips' win at Huskie Stadium last season.

Volleyball
Thursday, October 5: at Ohio, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Friday, October 6: at Kent State, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats

Following a weekend sweep at home against Miami, the NIU volleyball team returns to the road this weekend as the Huskies travel to Ohio on Thursday (Oct. 5) and Kent State on Friday (Oct. 6). As a team, the Huskies hit .302 in the two matches against the RedHawks, earning a five-set victory on Friday (Sept. 29) and a three-set sweep on Saturday (Sept. 30). Emily Dykes recorded a team-high 21 kills on the weekend, hitting .422, when Charli Atiemo tallied 17 kills, hitting .500, while also recording a team-best 14 blocks. 

Crew Hoffmeier went over the 1,000-career dig plateau in Friday's victory over Miami. Hoffmeier, who currently has 1,030 career digs, ranks second in the MAC, and 32nd nationally, averaging 4.85 digs per set. 

Men's Soccer
Saturday, October 6: at Drake, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats

The Huskie men's soccer team closed non-conference play on Monday night (Oct. 2) with a 1-0 victory at Marquette. Angel Rodriguez scored the lone goal in the 79th minute and freshman goalkeeper Atahan Arslan made seven saves to pick up his first career shutout as NIU won at Marquette for the first time since 2015. The Huskies return to Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday (Oct. 7) as they head to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet Drake. The Bulldogs come into Saturday's match with a 2-6-1 overall record, 1-2 in league play. 

Women's Soccer
Thursday, October 5: at Eastern Michigan, 3 p.m. – Live Stats
Sunday, October 8: vs. Miami, 1 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats

After an exciting week that featured the Huskies' first MAC win of 2023 as well as a direct corner kick goal, the NIU women's soccer team has two more matches this week. First, the Huskies will take on Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti on Thursday (Oct. 5) before returning home for Senior Day against Miami on Sunday (Oct. 8). Last week, NIU split a pair of matches as Reegan Kingpavong's game winner gave NIU a victory over Akron on Sunday (Oct. 1) and Aubrey Robertson scored direct from a corner in Thursday's match against Ohio (Sept. 28). Sadie McGill picked up her fourth clean sheet of the 2023 campaign in the win over Akron. 

Men's Golf
Monday-Tuesday, October 9-10: at Purdue Fall Invitational (West Lafayette, Ind.)

NIU Men's Golf heads to West Lafayette, Ind. for the Purdue Fall Invitational this week. Junior Felix Krammer led the Huskies last week with his first top-five finish at the Badger Invitational, tying for fourth place with a 54-hole score of five-under par 211. Krammer shot 69 in both his opening round and final round, chipping in for an eagle on his final hole of the tournament to get into the top five. The Huskies tied for ninth as a team, using a final round four-under par 284 to tie the hosts Wisconsin. 

Women's Tennis
Friday-Saturday, October 6-7: at UW-Whitewater Warhawks Invitational (Whitewater, Wis.)

NIU's Anastasia Rakita and Jenna Horne will compete at the UW-Whitewater Invitational this weekend in Whitewater, Wisconsin at the Warhawk Outdoor Tennis Complex. 

Rakita makes her 2023-24 debut after missing last week's Indiana Hoosier Classic, while Horne is coming off a 2-1 singles weekend with wins over players from Miami (Ohio) and Cincinnati. Rakita has won 40 singles matches during her Huskie career despite seeing limited action a year ago as she battled through injury.  Horne compiled a 12-7 singles record in her freshman season and also played in 22 doubles matches. 

The remainder of the team will focus on preparing for the upcoming ITA Regional Oct. 12-16 in East Lansing, Mich.