Tied for second in the MAC West Division with three other teams, the NIU volleyball team will have a chance to climb in the standings this weekend.

The Huskies (16-7, 5-5 MAC) will take on Western Michigan at 7 p.m. today at Victor E. Court. NIU hosts Buffalo (9-15, 3-7 MAC) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“Western just beat Ball State, and Buffalo has just played two five-game matches,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “Both teams have a lot of energy. All the teams are aware of their situations and they should be fired up to play.”

WMU is one of the three teams tied with NIU for second in the MAC.

Outside hitter Tera Lobdell leads the Huskies with 4.24 kills per game. That average is good for third in conference.

Marie Zidek is averaging 11.81 assists per game, which is fourth in the MAC.

Gooden said that both teams do a good job up front, which is a concern for the Huskies.

“We have to do a good job on the block with Western Michigan,” Gooden said. “Buffalo has really good attackers, so we have to take advantage of all our opportunities.”

UB is second in the MAC with 2.92 blocks per game. WMU is not far behind in third place, averaging 2.88.

That could be a threat to NIU, which is ninth in the MAC with a .195 team hitting percentage. Ohio leads the conference with a .260 team hitting percentage.

Gooden doesn’t think these matches are any more important than any other match. He said every win is big to help with the seedings at the MAC Tournament, which starts Nov. 21 at Ball State.

“This weekend is as big as any other weekend,” Gooden said. “Any other team can win at any time in this conference. So this is huge for us to win these matches.”