DEKALB, Ill. – The NIU women's soccer team officially started the 2025-26 Huskie Athletic calendar this past weekend and the NIU men's soccer team will kickoff its season this coming week. The NIU volleyball team will also be in action with a home exhibition contest on Friday night against DePaul. 

Volleyball
Friday, August 22: vs. DePaul (Exhibition), 7 p.m. - Tickets

In the last tune-up before the 2025 season gets underway, the Northern Illinois University Volleyball team will take on DePaul University in an exhibition match on Friday, Aug. 22. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in the NIU Convocation Center. Fans can purchase tickets online (click here) or at the NIU Athletics Ticket Box Office.
 
The Huskies welcome nine new faces to the program, including seven true freshmen, as 11 of the 16-member squad are underclassmen. A duo that saw significant playing time during the 2024 season are sophomores Ella Strausberger and Ava Grevengoed. Strausberger led the team in assists per set (6.03) while Grevengoed led the team in kills per set (2.96) and total aces (35).
 
The Huskies begin the 2025 campaign on the road as they compete at the Stetson Hatters Invitational.

Women's Soccer
Thursday, August 21: at St. Thomas, 3 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats
Sunday, August 24: at Minnesota, 1 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats

After splitting a pair of matches to open the 2025 season against Marquette and DePaul, the NIU women's soccer team will travel north to the State of Minnesota for two matches this week. The Huskies will begin the trip on Thursday, Aug. 21 against St. Thomas before meeting the University of Minnesota on Sunday, Aug. 24.

On the opening weekend of the season, NIU suffered a 2-0 setback against Marquette (Aug. 14) before bouncing back with a 1-0 win over DePaul (Aug. 17). Tyra King scored the lone goal in the victory over the Blue Demons while Morgan Lucich made a pair of saves while recording the first shutout of her Huskie career. 

Men's Soccer
Thursday, August 21: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Monday, August 25: at Green Bay, 6 p.m. – Live Stats

The Huskie men's soccer team opens the season with a pair of games in the State of Wisconsin, beginning with its annual Lewang Cup matchup against Milwaukee on Thursday, Aug. 21. Since 1981, NIU and Milwaukee have played for the Lewang Cup. The trophy is named in honor of former Milwaukee assistant and NIU head coach John Lewang, who came to NIU as head coach in 1980 following his time as an assistant at Milwaukee. Lewang died in a car accident after his first season leading the Huskies and the two programs have honored his memory with the trophy game ever since. 

NIU will follow Thursday's season opener with a trip to Green Bay on Monday, Aug. 25. A full season preview for the Huskie men's soccer team will be available later this week on NIUHuskies.com.