General | October 5

DeKALB, IL – Northern Illinois University's 119^th Homecoming takes center stage this weekend as the NIU football team hosts Air Force in its first Mountain West conference game Saturday night. NIU Men's Soccer is home Wednesday against Detroit Mercy as volleyball hosts Northern Kentucky on Friday and Saturday.
 
Football
Saturday, Oct. 10: Air Force, 6:30 PM – Tickets | Live Audio | Live Stats
 
The NIU Football team hosts the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night for NIU's 119^th Homecoming. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. with the game televised on CBS Sports Network. It is the Huskies' first conference game as a Mountain West member. The Huskies are coming off an open week after a 35-14 loss at Georgia State on Sept. 26. NIU had 432 yards of total offense with 320 yards passing from quarterback Taron Dickens. Dickens leads the Mountain West with a .700 completion percentage.
 
This is the third consecutive game where NIU is facing a first-time opponent. Air Force comes to DeKalb after a 14-9 win over Navy on Saturday and is 3-2 on the year.
 
Volleyball
Friday, Oct. 9: vs. Northern Kentucky, 6 p.m. – Tickets | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, Oct. 10: vs. Northern Kentucky, 2 p.m. – Tickets | Live Stats
 
The Huskie volleyball team will host Northern Kentucky in a two-game series this weekend as the Norse visit Victor E. Court on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. NIU earned its first Horizon League win this past week as the Huskies outlasted Milwaukee in five sets before falling in their second match of the week against Green Bay in four. Ava Grevengoed hit .295 for the week with 30 total kills and averaged 3.33 kills, 3.89 digs and 3.56 points per set for the week.
 
Defending Horizon League regular season champion Northern Kentucky brings a 9-6 overall record into the weekend, which includes a 4-0 league record. The Norse have won six consecutive matches dating back to Sept. 18.
 
Men's Soccer
Wednesday, Oct. 7: vs. Detroit Mercy, 3 p.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, Oct. 10: at Green Bay, 4 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
A pair of games await the NIU men's soccer team this week as the Huskies welcome Detroit Mercy to DeKalb on Wednesday before traveling to Green Bay on Saturday. The Huskies come into the week tied with Milwaukee for first place in the Horizon League standings on 10 points, one ahead of third-place Oakland. Vance Sheffield scored the game-winning goal this past Saturday against Northern Kentucky, his fourth game winner of the season, which is tied for the national lead. Roman Khela recorded his sixth assist of the season in the win over the Norse. He is tied for ninth nationally in assists.
 
Detroit Mercy comes to DeKalb with a 2-7-2 overall record, 1-3-0 in league play while Green Bay enters the week with a mark of 3-5-3 overall, 2-1-1 in Horizon League play.
 
Women's Soccer
Saturday, Oct. 10: at Milwaukee, 4 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
The NIU women's soccer team is unbeaten in its last three matches after recording a come from behind, 3-2 victory over Cleveland State on Sunday. The Huskies scored three goals in eight minutes to top the Vikings as Monica Correa, Dahlia Rodriguez and Sarah Roy all found the back of the net. Correa and Rodriguez are tied with Julianna Hill for the team lead with six points.
 
Milwaukee is the perennial power in the Horizon League, having won five consecutive regular season titles and eight consecutive conference tournaments. The Panthers are 7-4-2 this season, including a 5-0-0 league record. 
 
Women's Tennis
Thursday, Oct. 8-Sunday, Oct: 11: ITA Midwest Regionals (Champaign, Ill.)
 
The Huskies women's tennis team will compete for the third straight weekend, heading to Champaign, Ill. for the ITA Midwest Regionals. Last year, NIU had three players reach the singles main draw and upset No. 9 seed Illinois to reach the Round of 16 in the doubles draw.
 
The Huskies have produced strong results to open the fall season, including Irmak Budak winning the singles main draw at the Horizon League Individual Championships this past weekend. NIU held three of the four spots in the singles semifinals and reached the semifinals in the doubles main draw. 
 
Men's Golf
Monday, Oct. 12-Tuesday, Oct. 13: Purdue Fall Invitational – Live Scoring
 
NIU Men's Golf is back in action at the Purdue Fall Invitational on Oct. 12. The Huskies took sixth place at last week's Badger Invitational after being among the leaders in the first two rounds. Senior Craig Long was under par in all three rounds, tying for sixth with a 54-hole score of five-under par 211. Beau Petersen posted his first career top-10 finish, tying for 10^th at three-under par. The Huskies were sixth at last season's Purdue Fall Invitational at Kampen-Cosler Course. Devin Swoyer was NIU's top finisher, tying for fifth place at -3.
 
--NIU--