On Thursday, the NIU volleyball team got the best of Toledo for the second time this season.

The Huskies hope for a third win, this time in the first round of the MAC tournament at 7 p.m. today at Victor E. Court.

Two weeks ago, the Huskies were 4-7 in the conference and had dropped eight of their last 10 matches. But if there is any place to improve, it’s at home, NIU coach Ray Gooden said.

And a lot can happen in two weeks. Five straight home matches allowed NIU (13-8 overall, 8-8 MAC) to go 4-1 and break a four-team tie in the MAC to claim the No. 7 seed and a first round home court match.

“We had a really good run at the end,” Gooden said. “We really pulled it out and now we get to sleep in our own beds the night before the match.”

But the Huskies can’t start patting themselves on the back yet. Despite winning both matches against Toledo (16-13, 5-11) this season, the Huskies know that when the tournament comes around, all records go out the window and everything is even again, Gooden said.

Each team has a top killer who will try to repeat her performance from one of the prior matches in the season.

In the first meeting, Toledo’s Rachel Mohler had 23 kills, but was held to seven and a -.043 hitting percentage in the second meeting.

While NIU’s Tera Lobdell had 17 kills her first time against Toledo, she became the all-time MAC leader in kills, with 31 in the second match.

But despite the two “big guns,” Gooden knows it will take a whole-team effort to take down the Rockets. And maybe with a little help from the crowd.

During the home stand, Victor E. Court echoed with music from the pep band and a loud and supportive crowd, both things Gooden feels his team feeds off of.

“We need that energetic crowd to give us a bit of an edge,” Gooden said. “I just hope we’re peaking at the right time. We’re both banged up a bit, but the team who is going to win is the one is who leaves it all out there.”

The winner of the game will go to Bowling Green for a Friday quarterfinal match against No. 2 seed Ball State.