It’s time for the NIU volleyball team to put the past behind them. The 5-7 record? Gone. Past struggles at home? Meaningless.

For the Huskies, the season begins tonight when they open MAC play on the road at Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan.

The Broncos went 8-5 in non-conference play and are 3-0 at home.

The Huskies are coming off a tough lesson in closing teams out, losing 3-2 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday after being up 2-0.

“We got a lot of experience in non-conference play and we have some things to build on,” said NIU coach Ray Gooden. “[Tuesday] was a tough loss but I think we had a lot of positives and hopefully we can use them.”

WMU is a deep team that boasts plenty of big hitters. NIU will have to keep an eye on sophomore outside-hitter Michelle Moore who is averaging 4.26 kills per game. If Moore is struggling, the Broncos also have junior middle blocker Ashley Vogl, who is averaging 3.37 kills, and sophomore Katie Eberling, averaging 3.14.

“They are physical, fast and very skilled,” Gooden said. “It’s going to be a real challenge for us going over there.”

Serving will be key for the Huskies as they can use the serve to keep the Broncos from getting into their offense.

“We need to serve aggressively,” Gooden said. “We also want to try and slow down their offense by playing good defense.”