Lizzy Stark

HAMMOND, Ind. — The volleyball team at Northern Michigan University won two of three matches against out-of-state competition at the Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover held at the home of Purdue Northwest on Friday and Saturday.

The Wildcats improved to 7-12 after defeating Southwest Baptist, Missouri, losing to Maryville, Missouri, and sweeping Ursuline, Ohio.

NMU gets back to the GLIAC this weekend on the road, and interestingly, is back in Hammond to face Purdue NW Friday before playing in Kenosha, Wisconsin, against Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday afternoon.

Here is a recap of the weekend:

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NMU 3, Southwest Baptist 1

On Friday, the Wildcats tied a program record with 19 service aces as they won 16-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-13. NMU teams also had 19 aces in a match in 1989 and 2003.

Reigning GLIAC Freshman of the Year Jacqueline Smith, now a sophomore, led NMU with 11 kills while claiming five of those aces and also 11 digs. All three were team highs.

Lizzy Stark had 13 kills, while Meghan Meyer had 10 along with a .529 attack percentage and Ania Hyatt seven kills and a .500 percentage.

Among the seven Wildcats with an ace, Caylie Barlage had four and Madeline Crowley and Julia Bouma three apiece. And Lauren Van Remortel had 40 of her team’s 44 set assists.

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Maryville 3, NMU 2

On Saturday, Maryville prevailed in a marathon, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-9, where each team scored exactly 105 points.

Smith led the NMU offense with 18 kills as she also had 12 digs and three aces, while Meyer had 16 kills and Hyatt 10 kills and four blocks.

Barlage made a team-high 25 digs with two aces, while Van Remortel had 54 of the team’s 59 assists and Stark added nine kills and 15 digs. Crowley had a team-high six aces.

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NMU 3, Ursuline 0

On Saturday, the Wildcats won 25-23, 25-9, 25-19.

Northern put together some nifty numbers as Hyatt had eight kills and a .533 attack percentage. Smith led in kills with 14 and had seven digs, while Stark added 12 kills, nine digs and two aces.

Angelina Negron made a team-high four aces to go with seven digs and four kills, while Crowley had three aces and six digs and Barlage had a team-high 12 digs and Hyatt and Meyer shared the most blocks with four apiece.

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