The Wildcats defeated former GLIAC member Northwood in four sets, sandwiched around three-set losses to Missouri-St. Louis and another ex-GLIAC member, Hillsdale.

The tournament began an extended road trip for NMU (16-6), which has three conference matches away from home over the next week — Northern is in Grand Rapids to play at Davenport at 7 p.m. Friday, in Allendale to face Grand Valley State at 4 p.m. Saturday, then comes back to the Upper Peninsula and goes to Houghton to take on Michigan Tech at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

It’s expected that the MTU match will be televised by WLUC-TV6 or Fox-U.P.

The Wildcats don’t return to Marquette for a home match until Nov. 4.

Here is a roundup of Midwest Crossover matches:

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Missouri-St. Louis 3, NMU 0

On Friday afternoon, the Tritons prevailed 25-20, 25-17, 25-17, as Jacqueline Smith led Northern’s offense with 14 kills, while Lauren Van Remortel had an NMU-high 28 set assists and joined Smith and Caylie Barlage with two service aces.

Alli Yacko led the Wildcats with 13 digs, while Smith had seven and McKenzie Gruner made three blocks.

The first set was even in the early going with seven ties, but St. Louis took the lead for good with back-to-back points to get it to 17-15, then nursed that lead until it was 21-20. Then the Tritons scored four straight, three on NMU errors, to end it.

Set 2 started the same way, but St. Louis took control much more quickly, turning a 4-4 tie into a 10-4 bulge with a half-dozen consecutive points.

Northern never got closer than four points again despite a 5-1 run late in the set that got the ‘Cats within 21-16. That run included two kills and two aces by Smith.

The Tritons took control early in the final set, too, turning a narrow 8-7 lead into a 13-8 advantage that grew to 18-10 as NMU couldn’t get closer than five points down the stretch.

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NMU 3, Northwood 1

On Friday evening, the Wildcats felt like they were home again facing Northwood, which just left the GLIAC over the summer.

NMU prevailed 25-15, 25-14, 23-25, 28-26, as Smith made a team-high 19 kills and five aces to go with 11 digs and two blocks.

Meghan Meyer added 12 kills and Rayne Thompson 10, while Yacko led the Wildcats with 19 digs and Van Remortel 46 assists. Meyer and Gruner each had three blocks.

In addition, Gruner had three kills and an impressive .750 attack percentage.

In the opening set, the teams were tied eight times up to 12-12 before Northern went on a 12-1 run to make it 23-13 and effectively end the set. In that spurt, Thompson had three kills and Stark two, while Smith had two aces and a kill.

The second set was similar, as the Cats used a 13-1 run to turn a 4-4 tie into a big 17-5 lead. That streak included three kills by Thompson and two by Meyer, along with a pair of aces by both Smith and Yacko.

Another 5-0 NMU run made it 24-10 with a pair of Smith kills, and while Northwood staved off set point four times, the set ended with a Smith kill.

The third set was close for quite awhile, including at 22-22, but NU used a 4-0 run to get set point. While a Smith kill held off one set point, NMU needed a second one to keep the set going as the Timberwolves prevailed.

Neither team had a lead of more than three points through the entire fourth set, and it remained close down the stretch.

Northwood scored two in a row to knot it 24-24, followed by the Wildcats getting a 25-24 edge and Northwood going up 26-25.

That’s when NMU went on a bing-bing-bing binge, consecutive kills by Thompson, Smith and Meyer to end the set and match.

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Hillsdale 3, NMU 0

On Saturday, another GLIAC reunion didn’t go nearly as well for the Wildcats as Hillsdale won 25-15, 25-17, 29-27.

Thompson led NMU with 10 kills, while Smith had nine along with seven digs and a team-high three aces. Yacko had a Northern-high 15 digs and Van Remortel 26 assists. Ania Hyatt and Olivia Webber added two blocks apiece.

Hillsdale jumped out to a modest 8-4 lead in the first set, then broke it open by scoring eight straight points that included a trio of Wildcat errors.

A 7-1 run pulled NMU within 20-15 later in the set, a string that included three Smith aces and two Thompson kills. But the Chargers ended the set on a 5-0 run that included two aces and three Northern errors.

In the second set, Hillsdale again took charge early, but an 8-2 NMU run tied it 15-15. That string included a pair of kills by Smith and one each by Thompson and Webber.

Then the Chargers answered with their own run, outscoring NMU immediately 8-1 to go up 23-16 and effectively end it.

The final set was easily the most competitive, though Hillsdale led by a small margin throughout until the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to go up 24-23. That string included kills by Meyer, Thompson, Van Remortel and Smith, along with a Madeline Crowley ace.

NMU also had leads of 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26 before Hillsdale’s Karoline Shelton accomplished three kills in a row to end the set, match and weekend for the Wildcats.

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

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