NIU volleyball returns home after a successful eight-game, twelve-day road trip to take on the University of Illinois-Chicago Friday.

The Huskies (9-3) will be playing on Victor E. Court for the first time since the NIU Invitational Aug. 27. NIU is coming back from a 7-1 road trip in which it had a six-match winning streak, losing only to Texas A&M at the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack Invitational.

“I think we got a lot of experience from the trip that helped us understand we are capable of playing really good volleyball,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “We learned that it’s hard to take a break, especially with the level of competition we’re playing against all year.”

NIU senior setter Kristin Hoffman is more than excited to kick off a four-game homestand against UIC (6-4, 0-1 Horizon) in a nonconference rivalry.

“We have a lot of little connections with the school,” Hoffman said. “[NIU player] Sue Hayes’ sister is a coach there, my sister played for UIC and we know a lot of the girls on the team from high school. A bunch of them were on some of our club teams, so these are the little connections we have that make it a pretty big game for us.”

NIU defeated UIC last season in straight sets at the UIC Invitational. NIU last lost to the Flames in 2007.

The Huskies will host the University of South Florida on Sunday at Victor E. Court. USF (4-5) will first travel to Madison, Wisconsin to play in the Wisconsin InnTowner Challenge before coming to DeKalb.

“[USF] is a solid team from the Big East,” Gooden said. “They are playing really good volleyball as of late. They’ve won their last four after a slow start and they have a really good coaching staff with some really talented players.”

For both matches, NIU will charge $1 admission for any non-student with a football ticket stub from the Soldier Field Showdown football game. The Huskies will also host a post-match youth volleyball clinic after Sunday’s match.