The volleyball team dropped two crucial games Friday and Saturday as it is trying to keep its Mid-American Conference Championship aspirations alive.

The Huskies traveled to Michigan for weekend matchups against the Central Michigan University Chippewas and the Eastern Michigan University Eagles in its final two regular season road games.

The Huskies (7-22, 6-8 Mid-American Conference) lost in four sets (26-24, 21-25, 17-25, 15-25) to the Chippewas Friday and were swept by the Eagles (22-25, 22-25, 13-25) Saturday. The two losses dropped NIU to ninth place in the MAC standings.

With two games left in the season, Head Coach Ray Gooden believes there’s one major area the team needs to improve in to make a significant difference.

“Just consistency [is the big thing],” Gooden said. “It’s in our hands. It’s still in a spot where it’s in our hands. We just have to go out there and go grab it.”

Friday — Central Michigan

The Huskies began the weekend with a loss to Central Michigan. Freshman outside hitter Kaylee Martin tallied her fifth consecutive double-double, with a team-high 12 kills and a team-best 11 digs. Senior setter Chandler Kinley led the team in assists with 27.

NIU took a late 22-16 lead in the first set before the Chippewas went on a 8-2 run to tie the set at 24. A kill by Martin and an attack by Central Michigan gave the Huskies the points they needed to win the first set 26-24.

The Chippewas bursted out to an early 7-2 lead to force NIU to call an early timeout in the second set. The Huskies battled back and scored 14 of the next 20 points to take a three-point lead. Central Michigan fought back, went on a 7-1 run to take a three-point lead, and forced NIU to call another timeout. The Huskies were unable to regain the lead and lost the second set 21-25.

A 7-0 run by Central Michigan gave them an early 13-7 lead in the third set. The Huskies battled back and cut the deficit down to two points, 18-16. NIU wasn’t able to reduce the lead, and a 7-1 run by the Chippewas gave the Huskies a 17-25 loss in the third set.

The Chippewas took a commanding 12-point lead to start the fourth set. NIU brought the deficit down to seven points, but it wasn’t enough as Central Michigan scored the last three points of the set and won 25-15. The Chippewas won the match 4-1.

“Central Michigan came out very physical and energetic after the break,” said Gooden, according to NIU Media Services. “They really put a lot of pressure on us with the serve and with points in transition. Credit to those guys, their serving put us under a lot of pressure, where we became very lopsided offensively. We work really hard to have balance because they helps us become the most effective we can be.”

Saturday – Eastern Michigan

NIU concluded their weekend with a loss to Eastern Michigan.

Martin recorded a team-high 10 kills, Kinley paced the Huskies in assists with 27 and senior libero Anna Brereton led the team with 15 digs.

“I think we had two different nights of approaches,” Gooden said. “Tonight [Saturday] I thought we had a better approach, we just didn’t execute. Last night [Friday] we were doing alright for the first couple of sets and then lost momentum from a team that’s playing pretty hungry and hard right now. So, those are things to learn from.”

The first set featured a back-and-forth between the teams. There were 12 ties, four lead changes and neither team took a lead larger than three points. With the match tied, 21-21, the Eagles closed out the set with a 4-0 run and won the set, 25-22.

Both teams struggled to create significant separation in the second set, as there were seven lead changes and 13 ties. The Huskies had a 20-18 lead, but Eastern Michigan used a 7-2 run to win the second set, 25-22.

The Huskies took an early 8-6 lead to begin the third set, but the Eagles took control with a 5-0 run which gave them an 11-8 lead. The teams battled, but Eastern Michigan closed out the set with a 6-0 run, won the set 25-13 and swept the Huskies in the match 3-0.

“Being prepared every night is a really big deal.” Gooden said. “That’s from you physically, mentally and emotionally. Things as far as being prepared, watching the opponent. Those types of things. We’re not there all the time, so that starts our inconsistency. But, it starts with me so I have to figure out a way to make it better for the group.

{{tncms-inline account=”NIUVOLLEYBALL” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Huskies fall to EMU. We will see you at home for our final matches next weekend! <a href="https://t.co/5k7I5uYPUc">pic.twitter.com/5k7I5uYPUc</a></p>— NIU Volleyball (@NIUVOLLEYBALL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NIUVOLLEYBALL/status/926970890495119366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”926970890495119366″ type=”twitter”}}

The Huskies will return to Victor E. Court for their last two regular season matches against the Ball State University Cardinals 7 p.m. Friday.