After a long offseason, the Northern Illinois University volleyball team is finally back on campus and ready for an action-packed fall!

The team’s 2022 preseason training camp officially began after welcoming aboard a trio of freshman and two transfer student-athletes to the squad. After practice, Head Coach Ray Gooden spoke with the media about what he saw from the team.

“Focus and a willingness to try,” said Gooden. “I thought we had moments where things were happening that we felt pretty good about. The whole idea behind how we practice and work to get better is that we do it consistently over a period of time – we shouldn’t be playing at a November-level today, but I think we have a good start.”

The Huskies return a plethora of talent, including: outside hitter Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland/New Hampshire) who led the team in kills-per-set (3.25) and Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) who was second in the Mid-American Conference in service aces-per-set (.34). On the defensive side of the court, Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) returns for her sophomore season after being fifth in the MAC in digs-per-set (4.86) in 2021.

NIU has seven more days of practice to prepare for their exhibition match against Northern Iowa on Aug. 20 at 3 p.m., which will be free and open to the public at Victor E. Court.

“We’re going to get tired of playing each other after a while, so that (exhibition versus UNI) will be a good break for us and a good barometer of what we’ve been able to do the past couple of weeks.” said Gooden.

Season Tickets start at $30 in the general admission. A Huskie Four-Pack is available at $22.50 per ticket, with a minimum of four season tickets purchased. New for the 2022 season is the addition of 20 courtside seats on the south side of Victor E. Court. For $180, which includes a season ticket and Premium Seat License, Huskie fans will have a chance to experience NIU Volleyball like never before for less than $13 per match. All orders have a $5 handling fee. To purchase, click on the following link.