John McCain, Barack Obama and NIU all share one thing in common, at least this weekend: All hope to gain ground in Michigan.

NIU volleyball will take on Central and Eastern Michigan at 6 p.m. tonight and at 2 p.m. Saturday.

NIU (9-7 overall, 1-1 MAC) has won seven of its last nine but is 2-4 on the road this season. The Huskies have struggled specifically in past seasons when going to Michigan.

“The home team has been able to use their home court to their advantage,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “For us to steal a match, it’s going to take a really concentrated effort.”

CMU (8-6, 2-0) has yet to win at home, but is a perfect 2-0 in conference play. Since 2002, the Huskies have a 6-4 record against the Chippewas but are 2-3 on the road.

While the Eagles (6-10, 1-1) have lost five out of their last six matches, they are 1-1 at home so far. NIU has split the last 12 matches with EMU but are 4-2 on playing at EMU.

“Our group understands what we’re going to have to do,” Gooden said. “We’re going to have to carry out our game plan, play at a high level and play with a lot of confidence.”

NIU’s setting has been turned over to freshman Kristin Hoffman due to the injury of junior Amanda Tadla.

Throughout her first season, Hoffman has compiled 162 assists and 7.36 assists per game.

Huskie junior Meagan Schoenrock leads the Huskie attack with 257 kills, 4.85 kills per game and a .256 hitting percentage. Schoenrock ranks third in the country for kills per game.

The pair will face a tough CMU offense in middle blocker Whitney Evers and outside hitter Kate Fissel. Evers has 151 kills and is in the top 10 in the MAC with a hitting percentage of .333. She is also the team leader with 19 serving aces and 0.38 aces per game.

Fissel is second on the team with 142 kills. However, she also leads the team with 71 errors, giving her a .166 hitting percentage.

The attack won’t be as strong from the Eagles though, as they have the worst hitting percentage, .150, in the MAC.