There’s some good news and some bad news for NIU’s volleyball team. The good news is that the Huskies can put their disappointing losses to a strong field of teams last weekend behind them.

The bad news is that there might be even stronger competition on the horizon.

The Huskies will find out for themselves today, when they duke it out with Illinois State University at Normal. The 6-3 Redbirds should prove to be an even matchup for the 8-3 Huskies who are looking to avenge their 3-game loss to ISU last season.

The Redbirds have eight returning letterwinners from a team that went undefeated in Gateway Conference play last year and a 1989 NCAA volleyball tournament appearance. NIU’s head volleyball coach Pete Waite is aware of ISU’s strength but is confident in his team’s capabilities.

“This is going to be another tough match,” Waite said. “They won the Gateway Conference last year and they’re already doing well this season. Hopefully we’ll bounce back and play them hard.”

The Huskies offensively lead a number of North Star Conference statistically, heading the list with 14.15 assists per game and 15.28 kills per game. Individually, it is freshman Shauna Campbell who has the best average assists (12.54 apg) in the conference. With a strong crew of hitters such as Kori Schauer, Kari Neison, and Becky Ramsey behind Campbell, NIU’s offense is their strongest asset.