“David” was played by the Northern Michigan University volleyball team while “Goliath” was cast as a pair of nationally ranked squads from Minnesota at the Up North Tournament that was hosted by Michigan Tech.

The Wildcats lost in four sets to No. 14 Minnesota-Duluth on Friday before turning it around for a five-set victory over No. 7 St. Cloud State the next day.

NMU, now 4-3, opens GLIAC play on the road later this week, traveling to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to face Wisconsin-Parkside at 7 p.m. EDT Friday, then heading through Chicago to reach Hammond, Indiana, to play Purdue Northwest at 3 p.m. EDT Saturday.

The following week, Northern is back home to play conference foes Davenport on Friday evening, Sept. 27, and Ferris State on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 28.

Northern Michigan University’s Meghan Meyer, left, jumps to spike a ball with teammate Allie Barlow, center, watching during a college volleyball match played against Findlay and held at the newly expanded Vandament Arena in Marquette on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Here are details from the Up North Tournament:

——————–

Minnesota-Duluth 3, NMU 1

On Friday afternoon, Wildcats junior McKenzie Gruner posted a team high and career high of 14 kills, but it wasn’t enough as Duluth prevailed, 25-15, 25-18, 26-28, 25-16.

Gruner’s kill total surpassed her previous best of 11 last season against Davenport, and with no errors and just 27 attempts, gave her a sterling .519 attack percentage, according to an NMU Sports Information news release about the match. Gruner was also the only NMU player to make two blocks.

Usual attack leader Jacqueline Smith contributed 11 kills to go with eight digs, while Sydney Bartels had five kills, Liesl Haugen 13 digs and Allie Barlow 40 assists and three service aces.

However, Duluth finished with a .357 attack percentage to just .194 for Northern, also winning the war in other statistical categories, such as blocks 11-3.

Gruner posted Northern’s first point with a kill as the teams were tied six times in the early going of the opening set, the final time at 9-9.

Duluth then scored four points in a row that extended to a 12-4 run, a 21-13 lead and first-set victory.

NMU scored five points in row early in the second set for a 7-4 lead, the string including two kills each by Gruner and Helen Beiring.

The score remained close until the Bulldogs used a 5-0 run to go up 17-12. The team traded points down the stretch as UMD took a 2-0 match lead.

Needing a win to remain in it, NMU stayed close throughout the third set. Neither team had a lead of more than three points until Duluth reeled off three points in a row for a 23-19 advantage.

That must’ve inspired the Wildcats, who scored five straight to take a 24-23 lead as the teams went to “overtime” points until NMU scored three in a row, all on UMD errors, to clinch the set. The earlier Northern streak to get it the lead included kills by Gruner and Smith and an ace by Barlow.

The teams again opened the fourth set with close scores until the Bulldogs pulled away with a 6-1 run to go up 20-14.

While a Bartels kill and Caylie Barlage ace got the Wildcats within four, UMD rattled off the match’s final five points, two of them on NMU errors.

——————–

NMU 3, St. Cloud State 2

On Saturday morning, the Wildcats were able to prevail by twice coming back before winning 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13.

“Obviously I couldn’t be more proud of this team and what they just did, but it’s important to understand we are prepared for this moment,” Northern head coach Mike Lozier said in an NMU SI news release about the match. “We just seized on this opportunity. It was a team victory. We all did our job, and handled every opportunity so well.”

Smith and Gruner again led the Wildcats attack, Smith making 16 kills and Gruner 15 as Beiring had 12. Gruner’s career high in kills on Friday was eclipsed by this total on Saturday by one.

“I’m so proud of this team … for executing how we’re capable of playing,” Gruner said. “Especially after (Friday) night, bouncing back with so much grit and determination.

“I know we’re going to continue to do great things, as it doesn’t stop here.”

Gruner also had a team-high six blocks, while Smith made 10 digs and an ace. Barlow added team highs of three aces and 44 assists, while Barlage and Barlow shared team honors with 13 digs apiece.

St. Cloud is known as a good attacking team, already beating the No. 1 team in the nation and two other ranked teams early in the season, but NMU made 14 blocks, their most in a match since 2017. In addition to Gruner’s team-high six blocks, Beiring and freshman KC Fortune had five apiece.

The Wildcats had the lead early in the first set before the Huskies caught them with a 3-0 run and 12-11 lead. It stayed a one- or two-point advantage until St. Cloud reeled off a 4-0 run, then held off NMU for the win.

The second set featured nine ties by the time it was 11-11. Though the Huskies scored back-to-back points to go ahead, Northern answered with a 7-0 streak to go up 18-13. That spurt featured kills by Beiring and Meghan Meyer and two aces by Barlage.

Though St. Cloud would retie it 21-21, NMU scored back-to-back points to win it, the culminating one a Meyer kill, to even the match 1-1.

The teams traded spurts in the third set, Northern having four of at least three points each, but the Huskies had the most important one, the final one, finishing on a 6-1 flourish to win it.

While the Wildcats led almost start-to-finish in the fourth set, they couldn’t shake St. Cloud, which got to within 21-18 and 24-21 before a Smith kill ended it to tie the match 2-2.

The fifth-set race-to-15 also started well for NMU before the Huskies used a 4-1 run to pull within 10-9.

A 4-0 run — featuring a Gruner kill and Barlow ace — gave Northern a 14-9 lead and five match points. They used up four of them, making it 14-13, before Smith made a match-ending kill.

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