Nov. 12, 2007

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois volleyball team will return to action on short rest as the Huskies face Ball State on Tuesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The Huskies (13-17, 7-9) finished the regular season with a pair of 3-0 wins, including a 30-18, 30-23, 30-19 decision over the Cardinals (5-24, 4-12) on Friday. NIU enters the MAC Tournament as the eighth-seed, facing ninth-seeded BSU. The winner of the match will go on to Toledo, Ohio to face the top-seeded Ohio Bobcats on Friday, November 16 at 6:30 p.m.

"Ball State is fresh in our minds because we played them this past weekend," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "We need to make sure we go over the things we did this past weekend. We also need to continue to work on our side of the net and take care of things on our side."

NIU heads into post-season play with several players ranking at the top of the MAC and as a team the Huskies lead the conference with 20.10 digs per game. Sophomore Megan Schoenrock ranks sixth in kills with 3.72 per game and junior Irene Johnson (Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg) ranks seventh with 3.71. Senior Mandi Caputo (Chicago, Ill. / Immaculate Heart of Mary / DePaul) averages a second-best 12.58 assists per game. Sophomore Jessica Schultz (Beaver Dam, Wis. / Beaver Dam / Kishwaukee C.C.) ranks fifth in blocks with 1.07 per game and freshman Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill. / North) averages a third-best 5.47 digs per game.

The Huskies lead the all-time series against Ball State 23-21 as the Cardinals come into Tuesday's contest after losing two matches over the weekend. Along with Friday's loss to NIU, BSU was defeated 3-0 by Western Michigan on Saturday. The Cardinals Julie Breivogel's 2.88 kills per game. Angie Parrell averages 9.34 assists per game. Defensively, Alyssa Rio leads BSU with 5.02 digs per game and Christine Kennedy ranks third in the MAC with 1.20 blocks per game.

"It's tournament time now," said Gooden. "Ball State is going to give it their best because that's what you have to do to advance in the tournament. We know they are going to come with their best effort and we are going to do the same."

-NIU