This week in Huskie Athletics NIU will have seven teams in action. NIU gymnastics heads to Ball State for the Mid-American Conference Championships. Blake West will compete at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City which marks 53 straight years NIU has a wrestler qualify for the NCAA Championships. NIU baseball heads on the road to ISU before hosting their first home series of the season against Miami. Softball travels to Akron to continue MAC play. Track and field heads to Raleigh N.C. for the Raleigh Relays this weekend. NIU men’s and women’s tennis will be at home over the weekend as they both host a pair of duals.
Gymnastics
Saturday, March 18: at Mid-American Conference Championships – ESPN+
NIU gymnastics heads to Muncie for the MAC Championships hosted by Ball State on Saturday, March 23.
Last weekend the Huskies wrapped up the regular season at a quad-meet hosted by Minnesota and scored a 195.875. That was good for the Huskies second highest score of the season. NIU posted their seventh highest floor score in program history with 49.300. Alyssa Al-Ashari finished in second place on bars, Alana Anderson finished third on floor and Ellery Werner earned third place on beam. Isabella Sissi scored 39.225 in the all-around.
Wrestling
Thursday, March 21: at 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships
(Coverage on ESPN+ and TrackWrestling for Results)
After punching his ticket to Kansas City and the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) has earned the 26th seed as action gets started at the T-Mobile Center, March 21-23.
West makes his NCAA debut after finishing in second place at 125 pounds at the MAC Championships. West has a record of 23-6 against Division I opponents and marks 53-straight years of NIU being represented at the NCAA Championships.
Baseball
Wednesday, March 20: at Illinois State, 3 p.m.
Friday, March 22: vs Miami, 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 23: vs Miami, 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 24: vs Miami, 1 p.m.
NIU Baseball (7-13, 4-2 MAC) heads down to Illinois State Wednesday night before playing its first home series of the year this weekend against Miami. The Huskies took two out of three games at Akron last weekend, winning on Friday 10-4 and rallying in the ninth inning on Saturday to win 9-6. Fifteen of the Huskies’ 20 runs against the Zips came with two outs. NIU’s starting pitching rotation of Ty Brachbill, Tommy Meyer and Adam Brouwer combined for a sub-1.00 ERA this past weekend. Miami took two of three games in last season’s series in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks are 2-4 in the MAC after taking two of three games against Central Michigan last weekend.
Softball
Friday, March 22: at Akron, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 23: at Akron, 12 p.m.
Saturday, March 23: at Akron, 2 p.m.
The NIU Huskies softball program continues action on the road as they compete at the University of Akron in a three-game series. The Huskies opened the MAC portion of their schedule with a 4-0 win over Central Michigan before dropping the final two games of the CMU series to move to 1-2 in conference play.
With her next stolen base, senior Caitlyn Shumaker will become the NIU All-Time Career Stolen Bases leader. Shumaker tied Jill Carpenter’s record (1997-2000) of 59 stolen bases with her second stolen base on March 15 against CMU.
Track & Field
Friday-Saturday, March 22-23: at Raleigh Relays (Raleigh, N.C.)
The Huskie women’s track and field team returns to action this weekend as NIU begins the outdoor season in Raleigh, N.C., at the Raleigh Relays, hosted by N.C. State at the Paul Derr Track and Field Facility. NIU is returning to action for the first time since the MAC Indoor Championships where Arianna Calloway took second in the high jump and Malia Watkins finished second in the 200 meters. Calloway was named co-MAC Freshman Field Performer of the Year.
This will mark NIU’s first trip to the Raleigh Relays since the 2017 season, when current Huskie assistant coach Jourdan Doffeny claimed a top-10 finish in the
Men’s Tennis
Friday, March 22: vs Buffalo, 2 p.m. (Nelson Tennis Center)
Sunday, March 24: vs Toledo, 10 a.m. (Nelson Tennis Center)
The Huskie’s men’s tennis team returns home after a pair of 7-0 sweeps over the weekend. The Huskies defeated Judson 7-0 before traveling to UIC and taking down the Flames in MAC competition.
Cheng En Tsai and Mikael Vollbach moved to 3-0 as a doubles team in MAC play. Saul Berdullas has competed primarily at No. 3 singles this season and holds an impressive 12-3 record to lead the Huskies.
NIU has won 11 of its last 12 duals and is 2-1 in MAC duals so far this season.
Women’s Tennis
Friday, March 22: vs. Miami (Ohio), 10 a.m. (Nelson Tennis Center) | Watch | Live Scores
Sunday, March 24: vs. Western Michigan, 2 p.m. (Nelson Tennis Center) | Watch | Live Scores
NIU (11-6, 0-1 MAC) plays its first conference home matches of the season when the Huskies take on Miami (7-7, 1-0 MAC) and Western Michigan (9-5, 0-1 MAC) in the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Fieldhouse.
The Huskies dropped a 4-3 decision at Ball State in its MAC opener. NIU split the singles matches, with junior Reagan Welch and sophomore Jenna Horne earning wins and Erika Dimitriev scoring a point via a default. Welch, who won in three sets at BSU, is tied for the team lead in singles wins with 10.
Senior Diana Lukyanova needs one singles win to move into a tie for second place all-time on the Huskies’ career singles wins list as she enters the week with 79 career victories. She is 10-5 in singles this season, while she and Isabella Righi have combined for NIU’s best doubles mark at 9-5.