THE NEED TO KNOWS
Friday: NIU (10-4, 2-0 MAC) at Central Michigan (7-7, 0-2 MAC), 6 p.m.
Saturday: NIU (10-4, 2-0 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (6-9, 0-2 MAC), 4 p.m.

WHAT'S HAPPENIN'
• NIU volleyball opened Mid-American Conference play a perfect 2-0 last weekend, defeating both Western Michigan and Bowling Green in four sets at home in Victor E. Court.
• The Huskies extended their streak to six-straight conference opening wins dating back to 2011 last Thursday versus the Broncos and improved to 5-1 in their last three opening weekends.
• As a team Northern Illinois University amassed 25 blocks versus WMU and BG, tying its season-high with 15 against the Falcons. The Huskies rank 30th nationally in blocks per set at 2.62 and 54th in total blocks this season.
• Redshirt senior Lauren Zielinski and sophomore Meg Wolowicz led NIU offensively and defensively last weekend as they earned MAC West Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week accolades, respectively.
• Zielinski hit an eye-popping .513 last weekend while leading the Huskies with 21 kills (2.63/set) that included a 13 kill night versus Bowling Green, posting a .571 clip in the match.
• Wolowicz was NIU's leader in blocks last weekend, stuffing 1.88 attempts per set, for a total of 15 blocks. The sophomore highlighted her weekend with her first career double-double against Bowling Green, registering 10 kills and 10 blocks in the match.
• NIU has won three of its last four MAC road openers and is 5-3 in its first road weekend in the last four seasons.
• The last time the Huskies first conference road trip was to Mt. Pleasant and Ypsilanti was in 2012 when NIU won at CMU in four sets to open the weekend before falling in straight sets to EMU.
• Senior Jenna Radtke, who silently hit .457 with 2.38 kills and 1.12 blocks per set last weekend, moved up the national rankings totem pole in hitting percentage as she ranks 12th with a clip of .414.
• With her big weekend defensively, Meg Wolowicz numbers sharply spiked as she jumped into the nation's top-125 in total blocks (107th) and in blocks per set (89th). Wolowicz was not ranked within the NCAA's top-150 entering last week.
• Northern Illinois University ranks 67th in the NCAA in hitting percentage at a clip of .243 this season. The Huskies have hit .300 or better in three of the last five matches and reached that plateau five times this season.
• Blocking has been at a premium for the Huskies this season as they've reached double figures eight times this season, including three of the last four matches.

UP NEXT
• The Huskies will return home to start a four-match homestand, starting with Ball State and Toledo on Friday, Oct. 8 and Saturday, Oct. 9, respectively.