DEKALB, Ill. – It's Homecoming Week at NIU as the Huskie football and men's soccer teams will be at home on Saturday. NIU women's soccer will be home on Sunday while volleyball, women's golf as well as men's and women's tennis will all be in action away from home this week. 

Football
Saturday, Oct. 4: vs. Miami, 2:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats | Buy Tickets

NIU football begins conference play this weekend, welcoming in Miami for Homecoming as the Huskies and RedHawks battle for the Mallory Cup. NIU fell at home to San Diego State, 6-3, last week. Linebackers Quinn Urwiler (16) and Filip Maciorowski (13) combined for 29 tackles while safeties Jasper Beeler and Muhammed Jammeh each recorded interceptions.

Miami comes to Huskie Stadium after winning its first game of the season, a 38-0 victory over Lindenwood. RedHawks wide receiver Kam Perry is second in the MAC in receiving yards per game (88.0) while safety Eli Blakey is fourth in the conference in tackles (10.0).

Volleyball
Thursday, Oct. 2: at Ball State, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Friday, Oct. 3: at Miami, 5:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats

After sweeping the opening week of MAC play, the NIU volleyball team takes its 9-2 record (2-0 MAC) play on the road. The Huskies will travel to Muncie, Ind., on Oct. 2 to take on the Cardinals at 5 p.m. CT before facing off against the RedHawks of Miami on Oct. 3 at 5:30 p.m.  The last time NIU volleyball started MAC play 2-0 was during the 2022 season.
 
Against Central Michigan, Emma McCartney set a new career best in service aces with four as the Huskies tallied seven as a team. With five solo blocks, Rylea Alvin recorded a career best as she led the Huskies with seven blocks. Ava Grevengoed recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 19th career with 11 kills and 11 digs. Jordyn Tynsky matched her career best with four service aces, as NIU recorded five as a team in the contest against Eastern Michigan.

Men's Soccer:
Saturday, Oct. 4: vs. Bradley, 7 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats | Free Admission

The NIU men's soccer team returns home on Saturday night to take on Bradley in the conference home opener. The Huskies opened league play with a 1-1 draw this past Saturday (Sept. 27) on the road against Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Drake as Jakub Drazek scored his first career goal in the 64th minute to earn the Huskies a point. Katai Mukuka provided the assist on Drazek's goal; he has a team-high 11 points this season. 

Bradley brings a 2-3-4 overall record into Saturday's contest after playing to a 1-1 draw in its conference opener against UIC. Saturday evening's soccer match follows the Huskie Homecoming football game against Miami and admission to all NIU soccer matches is free of charge. 

Women's Soccer
Thursday, Oct. 2: at Central Michigan, 6 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
Sunday, Oct. 5: vs. Buffalo, 1 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats | Free Admission

NIU women's soccer heads on the road on Thursday (Oct. 2) as the Huskies visit Central Michigan before returning home to host Buffalo on Sunday (Oct. 5). The Huskies have earned draws in each of their last two contests against Toledo (Sept. 18) and Akron (Sept. 25). Goalkeeper Lauren Pearson recorded her first career shutout in the match against the Zips. In four appearances this season, Pearson has a 0.86 goals against average and a .786 save percentage. 

Central Michigan comes into the week with a 0-8-2 mark, 0-2-2 in league play. Buffalo is 7-2-1, including 3-1-0 in the MAC, the Bulls will host Akron on Thursday prior to coming to DeKalb. 

Women's Golf
Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 29-30: at Diane Thomason Invitational (Iowa City, Iowa) – Live Scoring

The Huskie women's golf team returns to the course as they compete at the Diane Thomason Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa, Sept. 29 and 30. The Huskies will play 36 holes on Monday (Sept 29) before concluding with 18 holes on Tuesday (Sept 30).
 
NIU was last in action at the Redbird Invitational in early September where Alexa Ouellet led the Huskies with a fifth-place finish. NIU carded 32 birdies in the tournament with Ouellet, Caroline Kent and Mia Raines all recording a birdie on the sixth hole in round two, a par-five.
 
Men's Tennis
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5: at Redbird Invitational (Bloomington, Ill.)

NIU men's tennis will participate in its second fall invitational this weekend at the Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State. The Huskies have two more fall events before gearing up for the spring season. 

At the River Forest Collegiate Invitational earlier this month, both Lorenzo Leti Messina and Iker Dellien Velasco took home fifth place finishes in singles. The pairings of Pratyaksh LNU / Chiao Bo Suo Nan and Iker Gaztambide Arrastia / Nikola Puntaric aim to continue their strong performances in doubles at this weekend's invitational. 

Women's Tennis
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5: at MAC Individual Championship (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5: at Hoosier Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)

NIU women's tennis kicks off its 2025-26 campaign following a historic 2024-25 season. The Huskies will be competing in two events this weekend, the Hoosier Classic and the MAC Fall Individual Championship. The Hoosier Classic is hosted by Indiana University and the MAC Individual Championship will be hosted by Western Michigan.

Last spring, the Huskies set a school record for dual match wins in a season (22) and won the MAC West for the first time. Senior Nataly Ninova set a single-season school record in singles victories (32) while sophomore Lucia Yecora finished tied for third all-time (27). Head coach Eric Burns returns seven players from last season and brings in three incoming freshmen.