• Game Notes (PDF)
• Live Stats: James Madison  |  George Mason
• Live video: George Mason only
• Northeastern Volleyball digitial media guide

Northeastern vs. James Madison
The Huskies will travel to Virginia for the second-straight weekend and take on James Madison on Friday night at 7 p.m. Northeastern handled its business against the Dukes on Oct. 7 in sweeping fashion. NU took down JMU in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) at Solomon Court and was powered by a team-best 12 kills from senior captain Nicole Bishop.  Ina Kamenova directed the setting with a club-best 20 assists while Natalia Skiba's 11 digs led Northeastern's defense. Junior captain Janelle Tucker chipped in with three services as in addition to nine kills. Lizzy Briones' 13 kills and Megan Wiechmann's 23 assists paced the Dukes' efforts. Northeastern holds a 7-6 record against JMU since the Huskies joined the CAA.

Scouting the Dukes
James Madison heads into the final weekend of regular season action on a three-game losing streak with its most recent loss coming at George Mason on Nov. 2. The Dukes have not played at home since nearly defeating the University of Virginia on Oct. 16. Danielle Erb anchors James Madison's offense with a team-best 299 kills (3.25 kills per set). Lizzy Briones directs the Dukes' efficiency, hitting for a club-high .285 percentage (236 kills on 547 swings). Katie Doarai is fourth in the CAA with 4.65 digs per set and Megan Wiechmann's 8.48 assists per set ranks fifth in the conference. As a team, James Madison is third in hitting percentage (.215) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.194).

Northeastern vs. George Mason
Northeastern closes out the 2012 regular season in Fairfax, Va., on Nov. 10 at George Mason. The Huskies have not lost a set to the Patriots since Nov. 13, 2010, sweeping GMU in the last two outings. Northeastern swept George Mason (25-22, 25-23, 26-24) on Oct. 5 at Solomon Court thanks to Kelly Bacon's team-best 10 kills and Jillian Briner's 20 helpers. Ina Kamenova also surpassed the 400-assist mark in that victory. Since the Huskies joined the CAA in 2005, head coach Ken Nichols has had the Patriots' number. Northeastern has defeated GMU in 10 of the last 13 meetings. The Patriots' last win against Northeastern occurred on Oct. 1, 2010.

Scouting the Patriots
George Mason snapped a five-match winless streak on Nov. 2 after outlasting James Madison, 3-2 (25-23, 26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 15-11), for its fifth victory of the year. The Patriots are technically still alive in the hunt for the 2012 CAA playoffs, but will need some help ahead of them from James Madison and Hofstra. Lana Zonjic is GMU's clear-cut offensive leader with a club-high 313 kills (3.64 per set) and ranks second in the CAA in that category. She also leads the conference with 0.38 service aces per set. Lolade Owokonrian's rate of .283 attacking percentage stands as a team best while Bernetta Moors stands as the Patriots' defensive guru, leading GMU with 373 digs. Mason is known for its defense this season. The Patriots are fourth in the league with 2.09 blocks per set and 15.56 digs a game.

Take two
If Northeastern wins both matches at James Madison and George Mason this weekend, the Huskies will lock up the No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament. The Huskies were the No. 2 seed in last year's conference tournament. If NU locks up the No. 2 spot, it marks the fourth time in the last six seasons since joining the league that Northeastern has been the two seed or better. In 2008, Northeastern hosted the CAA Tournament after claiming the No. 1 spot in the postseason.

Skiba triples up
On Nov. 5, sophomore libero Natalia Skiba earned her third Colonial Athletic Association award of the season after claiming Defensive Player of the Week honors once again. The Westmont, Ill., native accumulated her third highest dig total of the season, posting 26 in a win at William & Mary on Nov. 2. Skiba has totaled 464 digs on the season and is just 49 shy of matching last year's total. Skiba averaged 5.46 digs per set that stands as the 22nd best mark in the NCAA and second-highest total in the CAA. She has directed NU's digging efforts in 22-of-24 outings this season.

All hail Bishop
Nicole Bishop turned in a career-best 18 kills at William & Mary on Nov. 2 along with surpassing the 300-block mark for her career. The Park City, Utah, native has accumulated 301 total blocks throughout her career and is currently eighth all-time in Northeastern history.

Home cooking
Northeastern won its 11th-straight home match of 2012 and 17th straight at Solomon Court with the 3-0 sweep over Georgia State on Sunday, Oct. 28. Northeastern is now just one of two teams in the country to have won 11 home games without a loss on home court. Kansas is the other team. Northeastern's 17-game home winning stretch is the longest in program history.