The five day lay-off the NIU volleyball team had between games only seems fair when compared to the daunting weekend the Huskies have ahead of them.

NIU (5-9, 0-2) takes on the two top teams in the MAC West when it hosts Central Michigan (11-3, 2-0) Friday and Eastern Michigan (11-6, 2-0) Saturday. Both games will be played at 7 p.m. on Victor E. Court.

“We are still searching for our first conference win and this would be a great weekend to get it at home,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said.

Aside from picking up its first conference win, NIU is also looking to pick up a rare home win. The Huskies are just 1-5 this season at home.

The Chippewas will likely come out firing Friday night as they are one of the top attacking teams in the MAC.

Junior Kate Fissel leads the MAC in kills averaging 4.93 per game.

“She’s very experienced,” Gooden said. “She has the ability to play well at the net and that is big for them.”

While getting off to a good start is important for NIU, Gooden realizes that closing teams out is the most important. The Huskies learned that the hard way earlier this season, dropping a match after leading 2-0.

“That first game does a lot,” Gooden said. “But we know it’s going to be a long battle, not a sprint.”

While Eastern Michigan is one of the top teams in the MAC, they don’t have any one stand-out player.

Much of the reason for the Eagles’ success is a core group of seniors who play smart volleyball.

“Eastern in one of the most experienced teams in the MAC,” Gooden said. “They have a pretty good setter. To beat them we have to serve well and make them uncomfortable in setting up their offense.”

That setter, is senior Kate Sulewski who is averaging 11.14 assists per game.

The Huskies are coming off a 0-3 loss to Bowling Green in which sophomore outside-hitter Meagan Schoenrock recorded 16 kills, including a single game career high 12 kills in the final game.

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