MARQUETTE — After taking four- and five-set losses in their opening home weekend of the season, the Northern Michigan University volleyball team goes back on the road for a pair of GLIAC matches tonight and Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats, 5-8 overall and 2-3 in the GLIAC, play 16th-ranked Ferris State in Big Rapids at 7 tonight, then heads to Midland to play Northwood at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The following weekend NMU is back home to host Ashland, Ohio, on Friday, Oct. 11, and Wayne State on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Last weekend, Northern fell to Lake Superior State in four sets on Friday and lost to Saginaw Valley State in five sets on Saturday.

NMU sophomore Lizzy Stark is among league leaders in kills, with 196 third-most in the GLIAC and 3.77 per set ranked fourth.

Freshman Abigail Durecki is hitting at .333, third in the GLIAC, with 120 kills and only 30 errors, second fewest in the conference among players with at least 100 kills. Sophomore teammate Hailey Wickstrom also had 131 kills and senior Sarah Kuehn had 107.

Kuehn and Durecki are the second-best blocking duo in the GLIAC, with Kuehn’s 47 in fourth and Durecki’s 43 seventh.

And Durecki is also tied for fourth with 17 service aces, while freshman Lauren Van Remortel is fifth in assists with 490 and sophomore Lauren Caprini eighth with 190 digs.

The Wildcats and Ferris (10-3, 4-1) are nearly even in their all-time series, NMU ahead 48-47.

Northern leads the series vs. Northwood (4-8, 4-1) 43-26, including the last six matches as NMU wins.

The Wildcats can be followed online on Twitter at @NMU_Wildcats.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.