The Northern Illinois University volleyball team announced its 2021 schedule on Wednesday. The Huskies will host 15 matches at Victor E. Court this season starting with the Huskie Invitational August 27-28.
"We're looking forward to a fall 2021 schedule that has many positives to it," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We have a non-conference schedule with lots of variety, a home schedule with an awesome mix of opponents and a new-look conference schedule that gives a fresh feel to Mid-American Conference play."
The Huskies will play an exhibition match at Northern Iowa on Saturday, August 21 before opening the season the following weekend with the Huskie Invitational. NIU will take on Western Illinois on Friday, August 27 at 10 a.m., followed by a 7 p.m. match that night against Cal State Bakersfield. On August 28 the Huskies close the tournament with their first-ever meeting against Air Force.
NIU and Eastern Illinois will play a home-and-home series to start September, with the first match at Eastern Illinois on Sept. 2 with the return match at Victor E. Court on Saturday, Sept. 4. The Huskies then make their first trip to South Carolina to play in a tournament at Charleston Southern Sept. 10-11. NIU will face Bethune-Cookman and The Citadel on the 10th before taking on the host Buccaneers on the 11th.
The Huskies wrap up their non-conference slate with home matches against Green Bay on Thursday, Sept. 16 and against the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Sept. 18. The Badgers went undefeated in Big Ten play last spring and reached the NCAA National Semifinals.
Mid-American Conference play begins with three consecutive road matches. NIU goes on the road for a two-match series at Central Michigan Sept. 24-25 followed by a midweek match at Western Michigan on Sept. 28. The Huskies return home to host Eastern Michigan for a series Oct. 1-2 at Victor E. Court. NIU then opens a four-match road swing starting with a trip to defending MAC champions Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 8 and on to Miami on Oct. 9. The Huskies then travel to Muncie, Ind. to take on Ball State Oct. 15 and 16. NIU swept its series against the Cardinals at Worthen Arena this past February.
The Huskies finish the regular season with seven home matches out of nine. NIU hosts Toledo for a two-match series Oct. 22-23 at Victor E. Court. The Huskies then host Kent State on Oct. 29 and Ohio on Oct. 30. NIU's final road series of the season sends the Huskies to Akron for matches on Nov. 5 and 6. The Huskies host Buffalo for a pair of matches November 12-13 before closing out the regular season against Western Michigan on Tuesday, November 17.
An individual season ticket for the upcoming volleyball season costs $35. The Huskie Family Four Pack is also available which consists of four season tickets for $95, coming out to $22.50 per ticket. Season tickets allow fans to attend all matches during the opening tournament weekend. Tickets will be mobile and season ticket members can manage their tickets through their MyHuskies account.
Season tickets can be purchased here.