Maybe next year Tera Lobdell will be able to play with a setter she has been with for more than one season.

For the third time in three seasons with the Huskies, Lobdell, a 6-1 junior outside hitter, will have to adjust to another setter.

Coach Ray Gooden compared the setter-outside hitter relationship to that of a quarterback and wide receiver.

"It’s like a Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison combo," Gooden said. "It’s important that everyone knows the setter and their tendencies."

Lobdell’s freshman year had Jenny Bowman setting the ball to her. Lobdell led the team with 354 kills, averaging 3.50 kills per game. Those two stats, along with her .295 hitting percentage, helped her win top newcomer in the MAC.

"It was always easy with [Bowman]," Lobdell said. "She always knew where all the blockers were and all I had to do was swing and hit it."

Bowman was named MAC Player of the Year before transferring to play at Long Beach State University, leaving both NIU and Lobdell without its top setter.

After Bowman’s departure, the Huskies answered the Bowman transfer with Valparaiso senior setter Jenny Rohren and incoming freshman Kerri Royer.

Lobdell had nearly identical numbers from her freshman year, leading the team in both kills and kills per game for the second straight year.

The aspect of her game that changed was her hitting percentage, as it dipped from .295 to .224.

Gooden thinks Lobdell’s drop in hitting percentage was because of a more balanced attack her freshman year. In her sophomore year, some teams looked for her on the court.

"Last year, Tera was the go-to player," he said. "This year she is working hard to have a really successful season. She’s working to get there."

Lobdell agreed with the offense being more balanced her freshman year.

"It was such a good attack that I would have a lot of open shots," she said.

This past offseason, NIU lost Rohren to graduation and Royer to transfer.

This year is no different from the first three seasons as she has yet another new setter.

This time it is freshman Kelly DeRoo from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.

DeRoo knows she is going to be part of Lobdell and the team’s success.

"I have to figure out who likes what sets and where the people are going to be on the floor," DeRoo said. "I need to get it figured out so we can be successful."

Gooden is only looking for one thing from Lobdell.

"We hope she is one of our top scorers, plain and simple, that’s all," Gooden said.

But in order for Lobdell to be able to do that, she needs to find a setter who she is comfortable with.

"With Kelly, it’s getting better each day," Lobdell said. "She’s doing very well with all that she’s been through, the move from Canada and all."

The day finally has arrived.

At 6:35 p.m. today, NIU football kicks off its much-anticipated season against No. 13 (ESPN/USA Today) Maryland at Huskie Stadium.

Fox Sports Net will televise the game nationally to potentially reach 95.4 million households.

NIU’s home opener has the potential to be a sellout if everything goes as planned, ticket manager Mike Rockovich said.

Rockovich said a huge walk-up crowd is expected as well, and any students coming late may have to sit in the upper corners of the west side.

Maryland comes into tonight’s contest as the highest-ranked team ever to play at Huskie Stadium. Playing a top-tier team is nothing new for NIU, which took on No. 22 (Associated Press) Wisconsin last season. However, this time the game is at home, which excites the players.

"We just gotta play mistake-free football," NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. "We’re gonna have to play really well to beat those guys, because they are a great football team. We’re just really excited; it’s a great challenge to get a team like that into Huskie Stadium and see what we can do with them."

The Terrapins are coming off an 11-3 season and a Peach Bowl victory over Tennessee, but the Terps have some early season injuries that may help the Huskies.

Maryland senior running back Bruce Perry will not start and is not expected to play, according to the Washington Post. Sophomore Josh Allen will get the starting nod.

"I think he’d be starting for a lot of clubs," Maryland offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe told the Washington Post. "He gives us an explosive back in his own right."

Starting quarterback Scott McBrien is expected to play despite a sprained groin muscle.

The Huskies haven’t fared well against Top 25 teams with a 2-20 record all-time, with one of those being a 26-17 victory last year against Bowling Green.

Under direction of coach Ray Gooden, the Huskies feel they are ready to bump the Lady Liberty Flames off their turf at 7 p.m. on Friday at Victor E. Court in the NIU Convocation Center at the Best Western Inn & Suites Invitational.

"I feel that the team is well prepared for the game against Liberty, and when we come out I hope that we will surprise everyone," junior Shara Parker said. "We have a young setter [freshman Kelly DeRoo] who still has a long way to go but is doing a great job for the team."

The game will be the season-opener for both teams. Liberty returns everyone and will return with two new members, freshmen Rachel Denton and Katie Smith.

"Liberty is going to come back experienced," Parker said. "As a team, our main goal for this game is to have a good, quality win to start off the season."

"Our team chemistry is a lot better and we are all clicking together at a younger stage than we were at this time last year," she added. "Last year it was hard because since [team chemistry clicked] later in the season we had to figure out how to win and finish things as we started."

The Huskies’ four new freshmen are April Hankton, Gina Guide, Kate McCullagh and DeRoo. In addition, the Huskies have two transfers, Corinne Walsh (South Florida) and Megan Markowski (Marquette).

Hankton, an outside hitter, said that she hopes to bring a lot of power to the front row this season. At the same time she wants to learn to be a leader.

"I have always been a quiet player and I want to change that; I want to lead," said Hankton, a Minnesota native.

Like all the freshmen, Hankton is excited for the game.

"I hope that we kill them," Hankton said. "Our defense is unbelievable and our coach is awesome so I know that we can do it. We can beat Liberty and it is going to be tough for them."

Hankton feels very confident about this season.

"I hope that we win the conference championship and I think that we can with our talent and athleticism," she said. "We have a good, powerful front row and our team is just awesome."

With the score tied 13 all, NIU quarterback Josh Haldi found Dan Sheldon for a 20 yard touchdown pass to put the Huskies up in overtime.

Then, on Maryland’s overtime possession, quarterback Scott McBrien tried to hit wide receiver Latrez Harrison near the goal line, but the ball ricocheted off NIU cornerback Rob Lee’s foot and into the hands of Huskie cornerback Randee Drew to seal the victory.

NIU coach Joe Novak called this "the biggest win of his career." This is the second year in a row that the Huskies have opened the season with an overtime win against an ACC opponent.

"From where we came from this win is just tremendous and the biggest one of my career," Novak said. This was the first sellout ever at Huskie Stadium, with 28,018 fans.

Before the end of regulation, NIU kicker Steve Azar had field goal blocked, which could have given the Huskies the win with only five seconds left.

Full game coverage in Tuesday’s Northern Star

This week, NIU athletes are taking on some of the best in the nation.

While the football team hosts top 25 ranked Maryland today, the men’s soccer team kicks off the regular season at 5 p.m. Friday against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Madison, Wisc. The Huskies will finish their business up north with a 2:30 p.m. game Sunday against the University of Wisconsin.

A preseason poll by NSCAA/adidas has WMU ranked No. 18 in the nation, and rightfully so.

The Panthers finished with an overall record of 19-1-1 last year and went undefeated at home, 13-0-0. The Huskies were at their best on the road last year with a record of 3-4-1.

Offense left stranded

Leading the Huskies with six goals last year, junior Bernhard Hagevik may miss up to seven weeks because of a severe ankle sprain.

"My parents will be coming to the country for the first time ever in three weeks," Hagevik said. "I really want to be able to play for them."

Fellow Norwegian teammate Thomas Meiner also will be absent from this weekend’s games - and the rest of the season.

"I got an e-mail from him saying he was going to stay home and go to the University of Oslo," said NIU head coach Steve Simmons. "I sent him an e-mail wishing him the best and to stay in touch."

Meiner tied for second on the team with three goals last season and continued to play club soccer in Norway this past summer.

Simmons is looking to senior Matt Stukenberg to lead NIU’s offense. The Huskies finished second to last in the MAC last year with 19 goals.

Clerihew named new assistant

After spending three years as Simmons’ assistant coach at Division III Linfield College in Oregon, Ian Clerihew will back up Simmons once again.

"We had talked before about if he were to get the job," Clerihew said. "It was just a matter of sorting out some logistics."

Pala lands contract in Turkey

After taking over coaching duties for the NIU men’s soccer team until a replacement was named, Rasih Pala left to train for soccer in Toronto, Ontario.

On June 13, Pala received a telephone call offering him a professional soccer contract to play in Turkey. Pala was on a plane the next day to play for Buyukbehir Belediye Sport in the Turkish second division A League.

Pala spent the next 10 days training in the mountains of Istanbul with his teammates.

The starting goalkeeper position was open when Pala signed with the team, and he was in the running for the starting position.

In its first game of this season, Buyukbehir Belediye Sport lost 1-0 to Kayserispor.

Entering a game in the Goliath role is not an old hat for the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland was a lot closer to laughing stock of the ACC than it was to powerhouse not too long ago. Three years before coach Ralph Friedgen’s hiring in 2001, the team combined for a 13-20 record with a 6-18 mark in the ACC.

Since Friedgen’s appearance with the Terps in 2001 as head coach, the team is 21-5 with a 13-3 conference record.

The Terrapins enter this season ranked anywhere from 10th to 23rd, but found 13th and 15th in the coaches and The Associated Press polls, respectively.

The team also made two consecutive Bowl Championship Series appearances, including a 30-3 victory over Tennessee last year.

"All I see when I think about that team is they are extremely well-balanced," NIU coach Joe Novak said. "I don’t think there is really any super superstar, but really they’re strong across the board."

Maryland is expected to sit out former 1,200-yard rusher Bruce Perry (ankle), but counters with Josh Allen, who averaged 6.8 yards-per-carry in 60 attempts last season with eight touchdowns.

The status of starting senior quarterback Scott McBrien is also up in the air (strained groin), although he’s expected to play. McBrien threw for almost 2,500 yards last year and finished as the 15th highest-rated passer in the country.

Known for their 600-page playbook, the offense spreads the ball out to all their receivers. Last season, 12 wideouts caught for 50 yards or more.

Balance also extends to the defense, where future NFL draft picks can be found at each position.

"Our strength on [defense] is balance against the run or the pass," defensive tackle Randy Starks said. "Our defensive backfield is our best strength, though. Not to take anything away from our linebackers or defensive linemen, but they’re our best group."

The defensive backfield is led by Madieu Williams, widely regarded as one of the top five safeties in the country.

Starks headlines the defensive line (see box), which will be left in charge of containing NIU running back Michael Turner.

The Terps may find themselves a little distracted against NIU because of their next opponent, Florida State, on Sept. 6. The longtime king of the ACC has beaten Maryland by an average of 24 points the last two seasons.

Randy Starks is no ordinary junior. A 19-year-old, 6-foot-4, 312-pound defensive tackle is pretty difficult to locate, at least figuratively.

Starks was picked by ESPN as the preseason ACC defensive player of the year. Last season, Starks collected 93 tackles, 12 and one-half for a loss and six and one-half sacks. His ability to break up the middle of the offensive line could be the key to whether Michael Turner burns or flops against Maryland.

Expect to see him up against the left side of the line where two freshmen, Doug Free and Matt Rogers, are expected to start.

"I don’t really focus on who plays where," Starks said. "I’m sure they’ll be good players because they are starters on a very good football team."