While NIU is peaking at the ideal time with the MAC Tournament underway, tonight it will run into a team that has been peaking for the past five seasons.

The Huskies square off against top-seeded Ohio in the MAC quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. today in Toledo.

Ohio is looking to become the first team in MAC history to win five consecutive MAC championships.

“We know Ohio is the best,” said NIU coach Ray Gooden. “We are happy to face the best team right away. We know we have to give the best effort possible in order to compete against that team.”

While NIU has struggled at times this season, it has won its last three matches.

In the two teams’ only meeting this season, the Bobcats bested NIU 3-1. In that match, Ohio went on multiple long runs that made it difficult for NIU to recover from.

“The biggest thing in the game we won against them was ball handling,” Gooden said. “We avoided a lot of negative runs in that game. Hopefully, it was a good learning experience.”

It’s easy to see how Ohio goes on those long runs considering they have two of the top five attackers in the MAC. Both sophomore Ellen Herman and senior Melissa Griffin average over 4 kills per game.

As a team, the Bobcats are among the MAC leaders in every statistical category.

“The block has to identify the hitters and slow them down,” Gooden said. “This is the time right now, this is the arena to do it in.”

In NIU’s last match against Ball State, senior Laura Baetzel came up big with 19 kills and three aces. Setter Mandi Caputo was also effective going for 49 assists and 22 digs.

NIU’s defense was key in the win, as it held Ball State to a team hitting percentage of just .077.

“We had some stability on our side,” Gooden said. “We even had a few opportunities that we missed, so there is that room for improvement.”