With the MAC tournament around the corner, the NIU volleyball team is at the same place it was on Thursday.

The Huskies split their final two home matches of the regular season as they overcame Eastern Michigan Friday in a five-set thriller, 22-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-14, 19-17, before falling Saturday to Central Michigan in three sets, 31-29, 25-13, 22-25.

The Saturday loss came on the Huskies’ senior night.

Leading NIU (15-13 overall, 7-7 MAC) on the weekend was junior outside hitter Meagan Schoenrock, who totaled 30 kills over the two matches.

Senior Irene Johnson and junior Cassie Yates also tallied 27 and 21 kills, respectively. NIU’s defense was anchored by sophomore libero Maddie Hughes, who recorded 43 digs on the weekend.

Friday night was a back and forth affair, as NIU dropped the first two sets to EMU (9-19, 3-10).

The Huskies were caught out of position for much of the first two sets, but a substitution for freshman setter Kristin Hoffman helped to stabilize NIU’s offense.

“Tonight was the night that Kristin helped lead us to victory,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden.

NIU came out after the break on fire, with help from a near-capacity crowd, taking the third and fourth sets by a combined 20 points.

With momentum on their side, the Huskies were able to stop a late push by the Eagles, who jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the fifth. Down 10-14, Gooden decided not to call timeout, and NIU sparked a five-point run keyed, eventually taking the match in thrilling fashion.

“It’s extremely fun, I think this is why we play volleyball,” said Schoenrock of Friday’s finish. “We’ve been on the other side of that match a few times this year, so it feels really good to come out and win a match like that.”

The excitement carried through to the first set of Saturday’s match against Central Michigan.

It would turn after that, however, as CMU (18-9, 11-3) dominated for much of the match after having to fight hard to take the first set 31-29.

There were a total of 12 tie scores and six lead changes in the first set, but only two ties and one lead change in the final two sets.

“We got educated a lot tonight,” Gooden said. “It’s equivalent to football playing well in November, we’ve got to play well in November as well, because every team is gunning to get to Toledo.”