NIU women’s tennis looks to avenge its weekend loss to Akron when the teams meet in DeKalb for the second time within a week.

NIU will host the MAC Championships at the NIU West Tennis Courts and the DeKalb High School tennis courts.

The No. 7 seed Huskies (11-11, 2-6 MAC) will open up its tournament play on the West Tennis Courts Friday against No. 2 seed Akron (21-3, 7-1 MAC) at 2 p.m.

NIU struggled throughout the lineup during Saturday’s match against Akron, who won 7-0. The only bright spot for NIU in the match was Nelle Youel, who in her debut at first singles narrowly dropped a marathon three-setter, 6-3, 2-6, 11-13.

NIU looks to use last weekend’s experience as motivation to get over the hump against one of the top teams in the MAC. If the Huskies win, it will be their first MAC Championship win since 2009, when they defeated Ball State 4-3 in the 8/9 seed matchup.