SAULT STE. MARIE — The Northern Michigan University volleyball team ended its regular season Saturday and will be going into the GLIAC Tournament with momentum as the Wildcats swept Lake Superior Sate in three sets, 25-15, 25-17, 25-21.

Lizzy Stark led NMU offensively with 15 kills, while Abigail Durecki had 10 kills and two aces and Lauren Van Remortel had 33 assists. Alli Yacko was the defensive leader with 22 digs.

In the first set, the Wildcats took control with a five-point run with the scored tied 8-8. The streak included a kill from Calumet native Hailey Wickstrom.

NMU jumped out early in the second set, going up 13-5. Lake State rallied to pull within five, 17-12, but kills by Wickstrom and Durecki along with an ace from Stark ended that threat.

Needing a win to stay live, the Lakers took early advantage in the third set, but the Wildcats tied it up at 11-11. After three LSSU errors and a Durecki kill, NMU held a 16-12 lead before the Lakers rallied again to tie the set at 18-18.

Kills from Alyssa Milski and Sarah Kuehn along with a Lakers’ error helped Northern pull away. Kuehn added two more kills along with one each from Stark and Durecki to close out the match.

NMU (12-15, 8-8 GLIAC) will now move on to the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals. As the No. 6 seed, the Wildcats travel to No. 3 Ashland, Ohio, for a 7 p.m. Wednesday match.

The four winners of these first-round matches play the semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday at the site of the highest-remaining seed. Ferris State is No. 1 and Michigan Tech No. 2.

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