Two Huskie teams play at home this week while four others hit the road! Men’s soccer hosted Chicago State Monday night to start things off. Women’s soccer plays Eastern Michigan at home Thursday evening while men’s and women’s tennis compete at the ITA Regionals through Monday. Volleyball heads to Toledo for a weekend matchup with the Rockets and football takes on Ohio in Athens. Women’s soccer wraps up the week with a road contest versus Miami (OH) Sunday at noon.
Football
Saturday, Oct. 22: at Ohio, 1:00 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats
The NIU Football team goes on the road this Saturday to face the Ohio Bobcats at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. The Huskies snapped a five-game losing streak last week with a 39-10 win at Eastern Michigan. Led by 158 rushing yards from Harrison Waylee, NIU ran for 287 yards and had the ball for over 39 minutes. The NIU defense allowed a season-low 226 yards of total offense and scored its first touchdown on a James Ester pick-six. Kicker John Richardson earned MAC West Special Teams Player of the Week honors after making all four of his field goal attempts and all three extra points. NIU has won the last two meetings against the Bobcats, with Richardson making a 37-yard field goal as time expired for the Huskies’ 39-36 win at Peden Stadium in 2019. A full preview of Saturday’s game will be available on NIUHuskies.com later this week.
Volleyball
Friday, Oct. 21: at Toledo, 6 p.m. – ESPN3 | Live Stats
Saturday, Oct. 22: at Toledo, 4 p.m. – ESPN3 | Live Stats
The Huskie volleyball team kicks off a four-game road trip with two critical matches versus fellow MAC West Division member Toledo this Friday at 6 p.m. EST and Saturday at 4 p.m. EST. Last weekend, NIU fell to now West Division leader, Ball State, in a pair of home matches. Katie Jablonski logged a double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs on Friday night before posting another five the following afternoon. Ella Mihacevich also garnered a double-double Friday with 40 assists and 13 digs. She posted another 13 assists the following night for a grand total of 53 (8.83/set) assists through the two contests.
Men’s Soccer
Monday, Oct. 17: vs. Chicago State, 7 p.m. – 2-0 win
The NIU men’s soccer team hosted Chicago State Monday night in its lone match of the week. A pair of second half goals from Eddie Knight helped propel the Huskies to a 2-0 victory over the Cougars at the NIU Soccer Complex. NIU hosts Bowling Green (Oct. 25) and Akron (Oct. 29) next week.
Women’s Soccer
Thursday, Oct. 20: vs. Eastern Michigan, 4 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
Sunday, Oct. 23: at Miami, 12 p.m. – Live Stats
A key matchup in the race to qualify for the MAC Tournament awaits the NIU women’s soccer team on Thursday afternoon when Eastern Michigan comes to DeKalb. The Huskies currently have eight points following their 1-1 draw against Kent State this past Sunday (Oct. 16), the Eagles are one point behind on seven points in the standings. Prior to Thursday afternoon’s contest, NIU will hold its Senior Day ceremonies. The Huskies will close the weekend with a trip to Miami on Sunday afternoon, the RedHawks are currently fourth in the MAC with 13 points.
Men’s Tennis
Thursday-Monday, Oct. 20-24: at ITA Midwest Regional Championships
NIU men’s tennis returns to action this weekend as the Huskies travel to Urbana-Champaign for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. The event, hosted at the University of Illinois’ Atkins Tennis Center, will begin on Thursday (Oct. 20) and continue through Monday (Oct. 24). The Huskies will be returning to action for the first time since the season-opening River Forest Collegiate Invitational in which Iker Gaztambide Arrastia won the title in flight four singles while Oliver Valentinsson and Armin Koschtojan combined to win the crown in doubles at flight two.
Women’s Tennis
Thursday-Sunday, October 20-23: at ITA Midwest Regional Championships, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Several Huskies will be in action at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan this week. Thousands of players across the country compete at ITA Regionals across the country and the tournament results contribute to individual rankings. Erika Dimitriev, Diana Lukyanova, Anastasia Rakita and Reagan Welch all competed at the ITA Midwest Regional a year ago and will be looking for a return trip to the event in 2022. The draws for the tournament will be released later this week.