Forget the rankings and season records. When the North Star Conference volleyball championship tournament begins Saturday at the University of Akron’s Memorial Hall, each team in the NSC will start with a clean slate. It’s anyone’s ballgame now.

The No. 1 seeded NIU spikers will be looking to gain their second NSC crown in three seasons when they take the court against No. 8 seeded Cleveland State in the first round of the tourney at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that match will then take on the victor of the Akron-Wright State match in the second round. It is that second round that has head volleyball coach Pete Waite concerned.

“I’m not sure which team is going to be the toughest. Wright State (No. 5 seed) is really playing well,” Waite said. “They beat UIC late in the season and have really come around.”

“Akron (No. 4 seed), on the other hand, will be playing at home and one of their coaches I talked to feels that it will be their biggest advantage,” Waite added. “They’ve been up and down all year, so it will probably help them.”

Fortunately, two of Huskies’ biggest competitors are in an entirely different bracket. No. 2 seed DePaul, who just barely fell to NIU and stands at an equal 6-1 in the NSC, will most likely face No. 3 seed University Illinois-Chicago in the second round. That matchup will eliminate at least one of NIU’s worries.

“We had a really tight game with Depaul and we have already lost twice to UIC so it’s really going to be tough either way,” Waite said.

Whether or not NIU will see further post-season play relies on their performance at the NSC tournament. The winner of the NSC championship receives an automatic bid to the Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship. The WIVC is set for Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 at the University of Tennessee.

“Obviously, we’d like to win the conference, but the WIVC berth is extra motivation. As the No. 1 seed, you’d expect to have an easier shot at the title, but everyone is gunning for you,” Waite said.

“Quite honestly, there are five teams that really do have strong shots at the championship.”

On Sunday, the fifth- and seventh-place matches take place at 9 a.m. while the third-place contest is set for 11:30 a.m. The championship showdown takes place at 1:30 p.m.