The Kent State volleyball team will continue action this weekend with two Mid-American Conference games. The Flashes will host the Western Michigan University Broncos at 7 p.m. Friday, and will wrap up this week’s play with a home match against the Northern Illinois University Huskies at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Friday night’s match against the Broncos will kick off a five-game homestand at the M.A.C. Center for the Flashes, and it will conclude home action for the 2012 season. Head coach Don Gromala knows how important this home stretch is for the Flashes.

“Playing at home is big this time of year with midterms and the weather changing,” Gromala said. “We are looking to lock down the execution of our defensive systems to lower our opponents kill output. It will be great getting to do this in front of our home crowd.”

The Flashes have an overall record of 5-15 and a conference record of 2-6. Last week, the team hit the road for two MAC games against Ball State University and The University of Toledo. The Flashes lost both matches, each in three sets.

Western Michigan will enter Friday’s match with an overall record of 13-8 and a Mid-American Conference record of 6-2. The Broncos are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the MAC West division. Last week, Western Michigan had two conference games against Akron and Buffalo, and the Broncos won both contests.

“They are a very solid team,” Gromala said about Western Michigan. “They have two of the most athletic middles in the conference. They play smart offensively and they have a very deep bench.”

Going into this week’s play, the Northern Illinois Huskies have a 15-9 overall record and a 6-2 conference record.

Along with Western Michigan, Northern Illinois is one of the three teams who are atop of the MAC West division. Last week, the Huskies hosted Buffalo and Akron and were victorious in each match. Before the Huskies travel to Kent State, they will hit the road and take on the Ohio Bobcats.

Following this weekend’s games, the Flashes will continue their homestand 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26 with a match against Bowling Green State University at the M.A.C. Center.

Contact Drew Jones at [email protected].