Seven Northern Illinois University teams are in action this week! Football hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday while volleyball plays host to Rhode Island and Southern Indiana at Victor E. Court. Both soccer teams hit the road this weekend as they continue their quests for a MAC Championship. Cross Country looks to have a strong showing at the Tom Hoffman Invitational and men’s tennis heads down the road to compete in the River Forest Collegiate Invitational. Finally, after a top-5 finish at the Redbird Invitational, women’s golf travels west for the Coeur D’Alene Collegiate Invitational.
Football
Saturday, Sept. 17: vs Vanderbilt, 2:30 p.m. – CBS Sports Network | Live Stats | Live Audio
The NIU Football team is back in action Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores at 2:30 p.m. with the game broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The Commodores are the only Southeastern Conference member to come to DeKalb, having done so in 1997. The Huskies made a furious second-half comeback last week at Tulsa, rallying from 17 points down to take a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on a Cole Tucker touchdown catch from Rocky Lombardi. Tulsa took the lead with less than a minute to go and withstood one last NIU drive to win 38-35. Tucker had a career-high 123 receiving yards on seven receptions as Lombardi threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns. A full preview will be available on NIUHuskies.com later in the week.
Volleyball
Friday, Sept. 16: vs Rhode Island, 6 p.m. – ESPN3 | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 17: vs Southern Indiana, 11 a.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
The Huskies return home to Victor E. Court this weekend when they face Rhode Island on Friday and Southern Indiana on Saturday. The team is coming off an impressive performance in the KC Roos Classic last weekend; NIU beat UMKC and Wichita State in straight sets to be crowned tournament champions. Francesca Bertucci, Emily Dykes and Ella Mihacevich were tabbed to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts in the wins. Additionally, Bertucci and Mihacevich earned the MAC Defensive and Setter of the Week awards on Monday. The Huskies, who are pacing the Mid-American Conference in kills-per-set (14.18), are fifth in the MAC standings prior to this weekend’s slate of matches.
Women’s soccer
Sunday, Sept. 18: at Chicago State, 1 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
The NIU women’s soccer team will play its final non-conference match on Sunday when it makes the short trip east to meet Chicago State. Kickoff against the Cougars is slated for 1 p.m. and the match will take place on the campus of Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep in Chicago. The Huskies bring a 2-2-2 record into Sunday’s matchup after dropping a 3-0 decision at Wisconsin on Monday (Sept. 12). The contest in Madison was scoreless for more than an hour until three late goals lifted the Badgers to the win. Last season, NIU topped Chicago State, 4-1, in DeKalb.
Men’s soccer
Saturday, Sept. 17: at Western Illinois, 1 p.m. – Live Stats
Another in-state matchup awaits the NIU men’s soccer team on Saturday as the Huskies travel to Macomb to face Western Illinois. NIU saw its 12-match home unbeaten streak come to an end on Monday night (Sept. 12) as the Huskies fell to UIC, 2-0. With the setback against the Flames, the Huskies are now 2-2-2 on the season. Saturday’s contest will be the third of six in-state games for NIU this season, the Huskies tied Bradley earlier this season and have a pair of conference dates with Chicago State as well as a matchup with Northwestern coming in October.
Cross Country
Saturday, Sept. 17: at Tom Hoffman Invitational (Whitewater, Wis.)
The NIU cross country team will travel north to Whitewater, Wis., on Saturday to compete in the Tom Hoffman Invitational on the campus course at UW Whitewater. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. In the season-opening First State Bank Huskie Challenge, Brooke Valentine led the way for NIU with a seventh-place finish on NIU’s North 40 Course. Katelyn Robbins finished 10th while Elizabeth Kramer (12th), Joy Jackson (13th) and Carly Leonard (15th) also earned top-15 finishes.
Men’s Tennis
Friday-Saturday, Sept. 16-17: at River Forest Collegiate Invitational (River Forest, Ill.)
The 12th annual River Forest Collegiate Tennis Invitational takes place on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16-17, at River Forest Tennis Club and Oak Park Tennis Center in River Forest, Ill. The two-day, clay court event features seven schools as DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, St. Louis, UIC and Washington-St. Louis will join the Huskies at the tournament. Play begins at 9 a.m. on both days, with a round of doubles on Friday, followed by two rounds of singles. On Saturday, two rounds of doubles will take place, followed by the final round of singles action. Last season, the Huskies won five flights at River Forest, including three in singles as Armin Koschtojan, Oliver Valentinsson and Mikael Vollbach each return after winning a singles flight a season ago.
Women’s Golf
Sunday-Monday, Sept. 18-20: Coeur D’Alene Collegiate Invitational | Live Scoring
After taking fourth overall at the Redbird Invitational this past weekend, the women’s golf team looks to keep their momentum going this weekend at the Coeur D’Alene Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Gonzaga. Last weekend, Jasmine Ly led the way for NIU – she tied for eighth and had a total card of 8-over 224. She racked up nine birdies while Jóhanna Lúðvíksdóttir had six, Sydney Naro had five and Emily Romancew had three. Ahra Ko, Caroline Kent and Karen Liu contributed two apiece as well.