By Journal Sports Staff

KENOSHA, Wis. — One night after picking up a four-set GLIAC win at Purdue Northwest, the Northern Michigan University volleyball team completed a long conference road trip with a dominant 3-0 sweep over Wisconsin-Parkside.

Calumet alum Hailey Wickstrom led the Wildcats (10-12, 6-5 GLIAC) with 12 kills, while Sarah Kuehn had 11 and Lizzy Stark 10 along with two aces. Lauren Van Remortel had 36 assists, while Alli Yacko led NMU defensively with 18 digs. Van Remortel also had four blocks.

In the first set, Northern held a 10-4 lead after a kill by Abigail Durecki, and later, back-to-back kills by Stark put the Wildcats up 14-8. The Rangers (8-15, 3-8) cut their deficit to four at 16-12, but it was all NMU the rest of the set for a 25-18 win.

The Wildcats had another strong start in the second set, going up 10-4 on a Wickstrom kill and later held a 14-7 advantage with the help of kills from Wickstrom, Stark and Durecki as well as an ace from Madeline Crowley. Parkside wouldn’t go away, though, as it rallied to pull within one, but a kill from Durecki along with blocks from Van Remortel and Kuehn helped Northern prevail 25-20.

Parkside fought its way back in the third set, taking a 5-2 lead, but NMU eventually tied it at 15-15. The teams traded points for most of the rest of the set. With the set tied again at 24-24, Stark and Durecki notched back-to-back kills to give the Wildcats a 26-24 win and the sweep.

Northern returns home for three straight matches, starting with a rivalry battle at 4 p.m. Saturday against Michigan Tech in the Vandament Arena.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.