They say winning is contagious.

Right now, the NIU volleyball team has a bug it can’t shake.

The Huskies advanced their winning streak to five matches with a pair of MAC wins on the road this weekend over Akron and Buffalo.

NIU started the weekend with a dominating three-game sweep over the Zips on Friday, winning 30-26, 30-21 and 30-19. NIU was able to keep its momentum going Saturday with yet another sweep, this time beating Buffalo 30-16, 30-21 and 30-26.

The wins move the Huskies into second place in the MAC West, behind Western Michigan, and moves their record back to .500 with an 11-11 overall record, including 5-3 in conference.

“It’s great for us to get back to .500 and have a positive record in the conference,” said coach Ray Gooden. “It was great for us to have a very positive road trip two weekends in a row. We were 4-0 in that stretch and that’s important to us.”

Senior outside hitter Laura Baetzel, who has been hampered by injuries lately, stepped up against Akron and led all players with 21 kills.

Junior Irene Johnson and sophomore Meagan Schoenrock also hit double digits, going for 11 and 12 kills, respectively.

“Laura did a really good job tonight across the board,” Gooden said. “It was very nice to see her step up and play well for our team.”

Freshman libero Maddie Hughes was solid on the defensive end, collecting 23 digs.

Against the Bulls, the Huskies offensive key was Johnson, as she went for a game-high 18 kills and was the only player on the court to collect double-digit kills. She was also very efficient, hitting for a .515 clip. The Huskies offense as a whole followed suit, hitting for a combined .313 clip.

Senior setter Mandi Caputo was a big reason for that, as she ran the offense effectively and racked up 39 assists in the three-game match.

“We are super excited with how our middles played tonight,” Gooden said. “Mandi did a good job of finding them and they did a good job in finding spots to score.”