At this time last year, NIU’s volleyball team was working on an undefeated October. This season, October hasn’t been as pleasant.

The Huskies have lost three of their last four games — all at home. This weekend, however, NIU brings its game to the road in conference games versus Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.

NIU (11-9 overall, 4-4 MAC) faces the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Friday and the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

“Eastern has lost a couple of close matches,” said coach Ray Gooden. “Central is playing some good volleyball and this shows how even the conference is right now.”

EMU has lost three of its last four games with the only win occurring in DeKalb on Oct. 12. CMU has won four in a row, including three straight to MAC foes.

NIU will be without libero Shara Parker this weekend due to an ankle sprain suffered in practice on Wednesday. However, the Huskies do expect outside hitter Brooke Dodson and setter Jenny Rohren to return from injuries this weekend.

Both Eastern and Central could cause problems for NIU. They rank second and fourth in the MAC in hitting percentage, respectively, while NIU ranks near the bottom of the conference.

EMU also leads the MAC in digs and kills per game.

In their last match against EMU, outside hitter Tera Lobdell excelled with 17 kills and 18 digs, while the middle blocking duo of Jen VonderHaar and Rena Widboom racked up a combined 38 kills against CMU.

“Both of these matches are important for the standings,” Gooden said. “We need to get back on track and take both these matches on the road.”