DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team begins Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a pair of road matches. The Huskies will travel to Western Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 21, to meet the Broncos at 6 p.m. CT, before moving on to Bowling Green for a matchup with the Falcons on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 4 p.m. CT. Both matches will be available on ESPN3. 

NIU closed non-conference play at the Buckeye Invitational where junior Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) earned her third all-tournament honor of the fall. Wolowicz recorded 26 kills while hitting .323 with seven blocks for the weekend. Wolowicz was also named to the Oregon Classic and NIU Holiday Inn Express Invitational All-Tournament teams, she currently ranks eighth in the MAC with 0.88 blocks per set. 

Senior Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) ranks seventh in the MAC with 4.12 digs per set, she comes into the weekend with 1,614 career digs, 13th among active players in NCAA Division I. Freshman Kaylee Martin (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) ranks eighth in the MAC with 3.10 kills per set. 

Western Michigan enters league play with a 7-4 record after going 2-1 last week at the UNC Wilmington Tournament. The Broncos defeated Morgan State and Liberty while falling to the host Seahawks last weekend. Mary Murphy leads the MAC in assist per set at 10.56 while a pair of Broncos, Quianna Ware and Rachel Bontrager are in the top-10 in kills. Ware ranks seventh at 3.26/set while Bontrager is 10th at 2.98/set. Western Michigan leads the MAC with a .238 team hitting percentage while also pacing the conference by holding its opponents to a .158 hitting percentage. 

Thursday's meeting with the Broncos will be the first of two between the two teams in conference play, Western Michigan will travel to DeKalb on Wednesday, Oct. 25. 

The Falcons of Bowling Green come into MAC play with a 4-7 overall record and will open conference action against Miami before hosting the Huskies. Bowling Green competed at the VCU Invitational last weekend where it fell to Northwestern and the host Rams while defeating Seton Hall. Bowling Green's Kallie Seimet leads the MAC at 5.95 digs per set, as a team the Falcons also lead the conference with 16.53 digs per set. 

NIU will begin the home portion of its MAC slate next weekend at the Huskies return to Victor E. Court. NIU will welcome Eastern Michigan to DeKalb on Friday, Sept. 29 and Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 30, both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.