A group of Northern Michigan University volleyball players face teammate Caylie Barlage, right, after a successful play in the Wildcats’ home-opening match against Ferris State on Sept. 17 at Vandament Arena in Marquette. From left are Lizzy Stark, Angelina Negron, Jacqueline Smith and Meghan Meyer. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The road proved to be a good companion for the Northern Michigan University volleyball team over the weekend as the Wildcats swept out-of-state GLIAC matches over the weekend.

NMU defeated Purdue Northwest in three sets at Hammond, Indiana, then needed five sets to hold off Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Wildcats (9-12, 4-6 GLIAC) have just a single match this weekend, but it will be a noteworthy one as they host Michigan Tech at 4 p.m. Saturday in Vandament Arena. The match is scheduled to be televised on WLUC-NBC or Fox-U.P.

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NMU 3, Purdue Northwest 0

On Friday, Northern kept the Pride winless in GLIAC matches with a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 victory.

Lizzy Stark led the NMU attack with 17 kills to go with a pair of service aces and 10 digs.

Meghan Meyer and Olivia Webber added in nine kills apiece, while Caylie Barlage had 14 digs and Lauren Van Remortel 34 of the Wildcats’ 38 set assists.

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NMU 3, Wisconsin-Parkside 2

On Saturday, the Wildcats faced a much tougher challenge before prevailing, 20-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-20, 15-13.

In this match, Jacqueline Smith led the NMU attack with 22 kills to go with five aces and 13 digs. Stark made 20 kills and three aces, while Van Remortel had seven kills, two aces, 12 digs and 41 of Northern’s 57 assists.

Webber led her team with four blocks.

The fifth and deciding set was back and forth like much of the first four sets had been.

Trailing 11-9, Northern’s sense of urgency might’ve been what led it to score four points in a row, which included back-to-back Stark kills followed by a Van Remortel kill, that made it 13-11 NMU.

While the Rangers answered with back-to-back points to retie it 13-13, the Wildcats answered with their own two in a row on a UWP service error and Stark ace that ended it.

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