DeKALB | Similarities between last weekend’s Buckeye Invitational and this weekend’s UConn Toyota Classic are present for the NIU volleyball team.

In each tournament, the first two teams NIU faces have less than one win in at least three attempts and the final team is the undefeated host.

After losing to Ohio State, head coach Ray Gooden hopes for a different outcome this weekend.

To start the tournament, the Huskies (4-3) face Quinnipiac University (0-3) Saturday at 4 p.m. in Stores, Conn. Despite having no wins, Gooden said the Bobcats are not to be underestimated.

“They have a new coach and each week they get better and better,” Gooden said.

On Sunday, NIU has back-to-back matches against Boston College at 9 a.m. and Connecticut at 4:30 p.m.

Boston College (0-3) is led by preseason All-ACC selection Allison Anderson. The senior outside hitter led the conference last season in digs per game with 5.9 and is the school’s all-time leader in digs.

Tournament host Connecticut (5-0) is off to their first undefeated start since 2001 and feature two Big East statistic leaders in freshman setter Bridget Denson-Dorman and junior middle blocker Gina Heiderman.

Denson-Dorman leads the conference in assists per game with 13.6 and Heiderman leads in service aces with .8 per game.

“Connecticut has been playing very good volleyball and they’re at home,” Gooden said.

In three tournaments so far, Gooden said he’s learned that he is able to utilize more people, such as freshman defensive specialist Monica Lang and freshman setter Amanda Tadla.

Another similarity between the tournaments is that they are at least one state away. Gooden said the constant traveling is difficult, but inevitable.