If tradition holds form, then the NIU volleyball team’s two future members will have a good shot at the MAC freshman of the year award next season.

Megan Eisenman from Minnesota and Kristen Rust from Ohio have both signed National Letters of Intent to come to NIU.

Eisenman, from Eden Prairie, Minn. is a three-year varsity starter at the middle blocker position for coach Mark Kaschke.

“Megan was just one of those players you love to coach,” said Kaschke, her high school coach. “She is the strongest overall middle blocker I’ve ever coached. She came to the sport late in her life so she could continue to develop.”

Eisenman was named her team’s most improved player as a junior and received such honors as Sun-Tribune All-Area and All-Lake Conference. She finished her senior year with season totals of 257 kills, a .439 attack percentage, 24 service aces and 137 blocks.

“Megan is a very versatile player who will have an immediate impact on the program,” NIU coach Todd Kress said. “She is solid offensively and she has a great knowledge of the game. She is a very good blocker and good defensively. Hopefully she will be a mainstay for us at middle blocker for years to come.”

Another middle blocker, Rust hails from Cincinnati’s McAuley High. As a four-year varsity starter, she set a school record with 633 kills while adding 259 career digs for coach Kristi Nadler.

“Coaching a player of Kristen’s ability is really a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Nadler said. “She’s very versatile and her greatest strength is blocking, but we also used her in the back row. Having a player of her ability is a nice asset and she did all this against high-level competition.”

Garnering Second-Team All-OHSAA honors, the 6-footer was a two-year Cincinnati Enquirer Player of the Year.

Rust finished her senior season with 248 kills, 147 digs and a 3-block-per-game average.

“Kristen will bring a lot of size and power to both the middle and opposite positions for us,” Kress said. “She comes from a very successful and highly competitive program, and she knows what winning is all about. We expect her to contribute and help make us even better in the years to come.”

The Huskies still look to give out one more scholarship because of the graduation of seniors Sara Lein, Carrie Blankenship and Jen Scarpino.