Ohio (11-15, 9-5 Mid-American Conference) travels to DeKalb to take on Northern Illinois (11-12, 4-10 MAC) in their final two away games of the season. This weekend is important for the Bobcats as a win on Friday or Saturday would secure a MAC tournament spot.
Ohio has been the hottest team in the MAC, while Northern Illinois has been the exact opposite. Going into MAC play, Northern Illinois was 7-2 and looked great. The Huskies are 4-10 since their great start to the season, and third-to-last in the conference
One of the bright spots this season for Northern Illinois is its play at home. The Huskies boast a great 7-3 home record this season. Just like the overall trend for Northern Illinois, their home record hasn’t been great as of late. Before MAC play began, their home record was 3-0, and since conference play started, they are 4-3.
Ohio’s away record is the exact opposite of Northern Illinois’ home record. The Bobcats started 1-4 on the road during their losing streak. Then, Ohio got hot in October and since then have gone 4-1 on the road, including two dominating wins this past weekend at Central Michigan.
The Northern Illinois player to look out for is sophomore outside hitter Emma McCartney. McCartney has dominated this season for the Huskies with 261 total kills and 2.93 kills per set. She also hit the 300-point mark this season in their loss to Buffalo on Saturday.
Just like McCartney, the Huskies have another sophomore outside hitter who is dominating. The other outside hitter is Ava Grevengoed. Grevengoed is just one step behind McCartney in every stat, but equally as dominant. This dynamic duo in Northern Illinois has made it hard for teams to plan around them. If you focus on one of them, the other will start to take over and be hard to stop.
There isn’t one certain player to look out for in Ohio, but rather the game plan. The biggest change in play during this Bobcats' win streak is their ability to “spread the love." Ohio has been able to attack from everywhere on the court with everybody. This new style of play makes it almost impossible to scheme against because you never know what’s going to happen.
If you are going to keep an eye on anyone in particular, be on the lookout for freshman middle blocker Bailey Blair to keep up her strong play. She leads Ohio with 293 kills, and she has also made an impact on defense with 45 blocks. Blair’s strong play has been a catalyst this season, and her success is a pivotal part of her teammates’ success.
If Ohio can take care of business this weekend against Northern Illinois, then it can go home for the final two games of the season against Western Michigan with the only stakes being seeding in the tournament.
Ohio will take the court against Northern Illinois at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Bobcats will take on the Huskies in their last regular-season away games, arguably their most important away games of the season, and the red-hot Bobcats will look to keep it rolling straight into the MAC tournament field.
