Conference play begins in women's volleyball, and men's and women's soccer have key tests:

Thursday-- Women's soccer plays at home against Milwaukee (picked to win the Horizon). Good chance to get a quality win after disappointing results last week at New Mexico and #21 DePaul.

Friday-- Women's volleyball begins conference play at Northern Iowa, a good team and a very tough place to play. Last year the Ramblers missed out on the MVC tournament when they lost a close match 3-2 (with the last set decided at 16-14) at UNI to close the season.

Saturday-- Men's soccer travels to Butler, picked to finish sixth in the Big East preseason poll. The Big East is a really good conference for men's soccer, with Georgetown, Creighton, and Marquette often making noise in the NCAA Tournament. Butler has earned ties on the road this season against two excellent Big 10 teams (Indiana and Ohio State), but lost to a team that Loyola defeated (Western Michigan). Should be an interesting test for men's soccer.

Women's volleyball continues conference play with a match at Drake. The Bulldogs were picked last in the MVC preseason poll, but are off to a surprising 8-3 start in non-conference play.

Sunday-- Women's soccer travels to IPFW for their last tune-up match before beginning conference play. Should be a good test of the Ramblers offense.