The NIU volleyball team looks to go 4-0 against in-state schools against Loyola tonight at 7 p.m. at Victor E. Court.

Senior outside hitter Brooke Dodson thinks it will be good for NIU (11-2, 1-1 MAC) to play at home after a two-week, four-match road trip.

“We have a lot of fun on the road. We didn’t dread it,” Dodson said. “It’s nice to be home though. It’s comforting. We might not have realized that had we not gone on the road.”

The Ramblers (5-9) have a 4-6 record on the road this season. The Huskies own an 8-1 record on their home court.

Chicago State, University of Illinois-Chicago and Bradley are the three in-state teams NIU beat this year.

NIU is coming off its first MAC match loss against Ball State on Friday. The loss ended a six-match win streak for the Huskies.

“Maybe we focused too much on Ball State,” Dodson said. “We need to focus more on us. It’s not about the other team. What it all comes down to is us. As long as we execute as a team, we play very well.”

Tera Lobdell leads the Huskies with 196 kills, which works out to 4.08 per game – tops on the team and third in the MAC. Dodson is ninth in the league with 3.55 kills per game.

Marie Zidek leads the team with an 11.81 assist per game average, which works out as fourth in the MAC.