With its last road match of the season today at Toledo, the NIU volleyball team looks forward to coming back home to finish the season.

“It will definitely be nice to be home after this match,” junior setter Marie Zidek said, “but every road conference match is important. We’re looking to finish our conference schedule at .500.”

NIU (8-17 overall, 3-7 MAC) may have to play without senior middle blocker Megan Markowski, who is listed as questionable for the match against Toledo (14-9 overall, 3-7 MAC).

“She rolled her ankle in practice Monday, so we held her out at Illinois State,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “But it isn’t the same ankle that she hurt earlier in the year.”

Sophomore Kate McCullagh and junior Corinne Walsh likely will start at middle blocker if Markowski is unavailable, Gooden said. Markowski is third on the team with 2.05 kills per game and second with 1.14 blocks per game.

After being swept by conference foes Western Michigan and Ball State last weekend, the Huskies will look to break the streak against the Rockets.

“We’ve hit a rough patch lately, and we’re trying to refocus,” Gooden said. “We know we’re at a low point right now, but we’re not far off the pack. We need to get our positive attitude back and put the past behind us.”

A fast start and a first-game win against Toledo would be big for team confidence, Zidek said. The Huskies are 8-4 on the season when they win the first game of the match.

“Toledo always plays well at home, so we need to jump on them early,” Zidek said. “We need to have a more diverse and efficient offense, and we want to get in and get out quick.”