After taking on two winless teams in the MAC a week ago, the NIU volleyball team now has to set its sites on two 3-1 squads.

Marshall will visit the Convocation Center on Friday at 7 p.m. while Eastern Michigan will battle the Huskies at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“Both of these teams are very quick,” coach Ray Gooden said. “Their offensive systems are about quick passing. That is kind of what our tempo is like. So anyone who comes out this weekend will see some fast-paced games.”

Marshall and Eastern Michigan enter this weekend in second place in their respective decisions. NIU sits in third place in the West, but have the opportunity to move into first with two wins and a little help.

“All the teams in our conference are equally balanced so we just got to go in and play our game,” sophomore Tera Lobdell said.

An outside hitter, Lobdell plays well against MAC opponents as her kills rise from 3.49 to 4.27.

NIU has never lost to Marshall, as the Huskies are a perfect 6-0. However, the Thundering Herd has already surpassed their win total from the previous two seasons combined. The Herd has won 12 this season compared to 10 wins in the last two seasons together.

“This is another big weekend for us,” Gooden said. “We’re going against two solid teams. Marshall got a new coach and they’ve already exceeded their win total. Eastern was the preseason pick to win it all.”

This weekend begins a stretch of four straight home matches for the Huskies, who will try and focus on minimizing mistakes.

“If we go out and take care of our side of the net then we will beat both these teams this weekend,” Lobdell said. “We have to execute. When we pass well everything else falls into place and we play better.”