Northern Illinois senior student-athletes Lauren Eberts (women's soccer), Samantha Grams (volleyball), Shaakira Haywood (women's basketball), Jenelle McCalla (track & field) and Amanda Sheppard (softball) have been honored as 2013 Outstanding Women Student Awards for their contributions to Northern Illinois University. Awarded annually since 1980, the honor is given by the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women to 48 women across all disciplines.
 
Eberts, who has a 3.762 GPA in public health, played in every minute of the team's 2012 season. The senior defender helped NIU allow the fewest goals in the Mid-American Conference and the second-fewest shots on goal in NIU's program history.
 
Grams maintains a 3.805 GPA as a health sciences major. The Forest Park, Ill., native earned Academic All-MAC honorable mention laurels during her senior campaign with the Huskies after playing in 24 matches and 62 sets in 2012. Grams totaled 28 kills, 39 blocks and 14 digs during the year, scoring 48 total points during the season.
 
Haywood has a 3.687 GPA in psychology. She played in all 30 games, starting 12 at center in 2012-13 and has played in 37 straight games dating back to February of 2012. Haywood scored a career-high 73 points, averaging 2.4 points a game, shooting 43.3 percent (26-60) on the season.
 
McCalla, who has a perfect 4.0 GPA in psychology, holds the NIU school record in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:01.76. This year, the Whitby, Ontario, Canada, native qualified for the MAC Indoor Championships in the 60 hurdles, while also contributing on NIU's 4x400 relay teams.
 
Sheppard has a 3.495 GPA in kinesiology and helped the Huskies reach the 2013 MAC Championship game. The Oak Forest, Ill., native batted .298 and ranked second on the team with a .470 slugging percentage, while playing in all 57 games. Sheppard also was second on the team with 18 extra-base hits, including a team-best 12 doubles and five home runs.

Football: Northern Illinois wrapped up its regular season Friday with a convincing 49-7 win over Eastern Michigan. Akeem Daniels rushed for 112 yards on 12 carries, while Jordan Lynch combined for 275 yards of total offense in the win. The victory was NIU's 11th in a row and marks the first time that the program has reached the 11-win plateau during the regular season.

Football: Northern Illinois clinched its third consecutive MAC West title Wednesday night with a 31-24 win over the Toledo Rockets at Huskie Stadium. Jordan Lynch led the Huskies back from a 14-7 halftime deficit with 295 yards passing in the third quarter alone as part of NIU's 21-point explosion. Lynch also became the first QB in NCAA history to pass for 400 yards and rush for 150 in the same game.

Men's Basketball: Northern Illinois dropped their season opener Friday with a 77-64 defeat at Nebraska Omaha. Aksel Bolin paced NIU with 11 points, while freshman Daveon Balls added 10 for the Huskies.
Women's Basketball: The Huskies started their year off Monday with a tight 45-42 exhibition win over Indiana Wesleyan, as  Amanda Corral led NIU with 12 points and sank to critical free throws late. The squad kicked off their regular season Friday night in Iowa City, Iowa, when they dropped a 63-40 decision to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Football: The Huskies moved to 9-1 on the year with a 63-0 shutout victory over the UMass Minutemen. QB Jordan Lynch combined for over 300 yards of total offense, while the NIU defense forced four turnovers. The shutout was the first by NIU since Sept. 27, 2008, when they blanked Eastern Michigan, 37-0.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament for the second consecutive season during the week, but not without some added drama. The week began with a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan, putting NIU in a "win or go home" situation Friday at Buffalo. However, Northern punched their ticket to Akron with a tight 1-0 win against the Bulls.

Football: The Huskies extended their winning streak to eight games Saturday with a 48-34 victory at Western Michigan. After trailing 21-17 at halftime, the NIU offense exploded for 31 points in the second half to put away the Broncos. Jordan Lynch threw for 274 yards and rushed for 136 in the win.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois notched two huge wins during the past week to improve their standing heading into the final week of the regular season. On Wednesday, the Huskies scored a 1-0 overtime win at Northwestern following Charlie Oliver's goal in the 91st minute. Their Saturday match against West Virginia followed a similar script, with Isaac Kannah scoring in the 84th minute for a 1-0 win over the Mountaineers.

Football: The Huskies won their 16th game in the last 17 and improved to 7-1 in 2012 with a convincing 37-7 victory at Akron. Along with Jordan Lynch's 131 rushing yards, the NIU defense held the Zips to 199 yards of total offense, including only 42 rushing yards on 37 carries.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois' offense continued to struggle this week as they completed a 0-1-1 week. On Wednesday, the Huskies could not complete the comeback on the road as they fell to Valparaiso, 2-1. Three days later, NIU and Bowling Green battled to a 0-0 tie in DeKalb.

Football: The Huskies became bowl eligible Saturday with a dominant 45-3 Homecoming victory over Buffalo. Jordan Lynch combined for 361 yards of total offense, while the Huskie defense forced three turnovers on the day. The win marks the fifth straight season that NIU reached the six-win mark.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois battled two of the nation's top five programs this week, but could not pull out a win in either match. The Huskies battled No. 4 Marquette on Tuesday, but lost 1-0 after the Golden Eagles scored in the 80th minute. NIU returned to MAC play on Saturday when they fell to No. 3 Akron, 2-0.

Football: Northern Illinois extended their winning streak to five games with a 35-23 win at Ball State to keep the Bronze Stalk. After trailing the Cardinals 23-21 late in the fourth quarter, Jordan Lynch found Akeem Daniels for a 54-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score. About one and a half minutes later, Lynch outran the BSU defense for a 71-yard scoring run to put the game away. The junior QB combined for 402 yards of total offense in the win.

Men's Soccer: NIU improved to 2-0 in MAC play with a 1-0 win against the Hartwick Hawks Saturday in DeKalb. The match's lone tally came in the 68th minute when Gael Rivera beat Hartwick's goaltender with a hard header.

Football: Northern Illinois opened MAC play on a positive note Saturday with a 55-24 dismantling of Central Michigan at Huskie Stadium. Leighton Settle ran for 152 yards and Jordan Lynch gained 144 yards on the ground as a part of NIU's 407 total rushing yards. In addition, a fake punt by Ryan Neir and fake field goal touchdown by Mathew Sims sparked NIU to victory.

Men's Soccer: NIU started conference play with a 2-0 win on the road against the Florida Atlantic Owls. After struggling offensively in the non-conference slate, the Huskies got goals from Isaac Kannah and James Stevenson. Jordan Godsey shut out FAU for his third shutout of the year and 29th of his career.

Football: Northern Illinois captured a huge victory on their home turf Saturday with a 30-23 win against Kansas. Trailing 23-13 early in the fourth quarter, Jordan Lynch led a 17-point comeback in the final stanza to give NIU their second comeback win in as many weeks. Lynch combined for 369 yards offensively, while the defense tallied four sacks of KU's Dayne Crist.

Men's Soccer: NIU lost both of their matches at New Mexico's Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Friday, the Huskies went into their fourth overtime game of the year against Denver. However, the Pioneers found the back of the net in the 109th minute for a 3-2 win. Northern ended their weekend with a 3-0 loss to the No. 5 and host Lobos.

Football: Northern Illinois hit the road for the first time in 2012 and escaped West Point, N.Y., with a 41-40 victory over the Army Black Knights. Jordan Lynch combined for 467 yards of total offense - the third-highest single game total in NIU history - and the defense came up with a huge stop inside of two minutes to cap off the rally. The win was also NIU's first road opener win since 2007.

Men's Soccer: NIU split its two matches over the weekend at the Northwestern Lakeside Classic. They opened the tournament with a tough 1-0 loss in the annual LeWang Cup match against Milwaukee. However, they rebounded Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Iona.

Football: Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch and running back Leighton Settle powered the Huskies  to a 35-7 win over UT Martin Saturday night at Huskie Stadium. The duo combined for 166 rushing yards on 32 carries for three touchdowns as both averaged over five yards per carry against the Skyhawks for NIU's first win of the 2012 campaign. 

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois tied both of their matches in the NIU adidas Invitational. On Friday, Northern and Rhode Island battled to a 0-0 tie, with the Huskies limiting the Rams to only one shot. Sunday followed with a 1-1 tie against Drake.

Football: The Huskies pushed Iowa to the brink Saturday in Chicago, but fell in heartbreaking fashion as the Hawkeyes scored late to claim an 18-17 victory. NIU led for the majority of the game and held a 17-9 lead going into the fourth quarter. However, Iowa's Damon Bullock scored the decisive points on a 23-yard run with 2:15 left in the game. The Huskie defense, though, was a huge bright spot in the game, collecting six sacks of James Vandenberg and limited the Hawkeyes to 268 total yards.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois lost in excruciating fashion Friday night when they fell to Green Bay in double overtime, 2-1. The Huskies' lone goal of the game came in the 69th minute when James Stevenson found Gael Rivera for a quick shot that tied the match at 1-1. Yet, the Phoenix won the match with a winner in the 102nd minute.

Just a few days returned from her trip to China for the China-USA Challenge Invitational Tournament, NIU Volleyball senior middle blocker Mary Kurisch graced the cover page of WisconsinHigh.com as she shared her overseas experience in an interview with WisconsinHigh.com's Todd Mishler.  Click here to check it out.  Click here to read her blogs from China.

Huskie Wire's Anthony Zilis recently caught up with NIU Volleyball Head Coach Ray Gooden and his wife Stephanie to discuss the wild ride their careers have taken them on lately.  Click here to read.

Over the holiday, two-time reigning MAC Player of the Year Lauren Wicinski was profiled by the Daily Herald's Elena Ferrarin.  Click here to read all about the sophomore standout's story. 

Two Mid-American Championships in one weekend. Take a deep breath, and say it again... 

Needless to say, it's a great day to be Huskie. Thursday night, the women's volleyball team claimed the MAC West and regular season titles with a 3-1 triumph at Western Michigan, the Huskies first at WMU since 2007. To boot, it was NIU's first MAC regular season championship in a decade.

Fast forward to Sunday and teleport to Akron from Kalamazoo, and the Huskies triumphed over Western Michigan Sunday in similar 1-0 fashion to clinch the Mid-American Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament - the first such championship for NIU since 2006.

Let me repeat my opening statement: It's a great day to be a Huskie!

To honor the outstanding accomplishments by these men and women, NIU will honor the team's during the men's basketball game tonight (Nov. 14) against Milwaukee during a timeout and will also congratulate the team's in the first quarter of NIU's Black Out football game versus Ball State. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

If fans of the men's soccer team would like to celebrate with the Huskies today, Fatty's will be hosting a NCAA Selection Party at 3:30 p.m. Come on out and watch to see what lies ahead on the road less traveled for the Northern Illinois Huskies.

They met through playing volleyball, and now married, they coach together on the same team.  NIU volleyball Assistant Coaches Dan and Coley Pawlikowski's journey was recently chronicled by the Northern Star's Mike Romor.  Click here to read.

It was a big weekend for the NIU volleyball team, as the Huskies entered in second place in the MAC West Division and left the weekend in first after 3-0 wins at home over Toledo and Ball State.  NIU is currently tied with Western Michigan for first place in the West and the No. 1 overall seed in the MAC Tournament.  The Huskies and Broncos meet in Kalamazoo, Mich., Thursday to break the tie.

Reactions from the successful weekend are right here:

"Schepler's ace puts volleyball team in first in MAC" -- by Ryan Wood, Daily Chronicle

"Somebody grab a broom - NIU volleyball defeats Toledo" -- by Abbe Barton, Northern Star