Gruner earned her spot on the GLIAC First Team, with junior libero-defensive specialist Liesl Haugen and junior setter Allie Barlow landing on the Second Team, and sophomore opposite/right-side hitter Madison York winning Honorable Mention.

Gruner earned her first All-GLIAC honor after leading the Wildcats with 343 kills and a .328 attack percentage, along with 91 blocks.

Named the conference Offensive Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season, she had at least a dozen kills in each of her last nine matches, including a career-high 24 in a five-set win over Michigan Tech on Oct. 28.

In conference matches, where the Wildcats excelled with a 12-4 mark despite a 15-14 overall record, her .360 attack percentage was third and 3.56 kills per set fifth.

Haugen had one of the best defensive seasons in the league, winning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week three times. She had 20 or more digs in 12 of her 24 matches, including 38 twice for top-20 totals in NCAA Division II this fall.

Already having been named All-GLIAC Honorable Mention the past two seasons, she was second in the league with 4.98 digs per set and seventh in service aces per set with 0.40.

Barlow made GLIAC Second Team for the second consecutive year, amassing 1,088 assists for 10.06 assists per set, each second in the conference. With 2,560 assists in her collegiate career, she is “set” to enter Northern’s all-time top-10 leaderboard next year. Also this season, she had 34 aces, which was second for the Wildcats, and 33 blocks.

York was second only to Gruner in kills for NMU with 247, 2.35 per set, and had 14 matches with double-digit kills, her high of 18 accomplished in a five-set loss to Wayne State on Oct. 25.

After Northern came through a rough start at a pair of out-of-state tournaments featuring multiple nationally ranked teams to start the season, the Wildcats finished tied for third in the league, falling to Wisconsin-Parkside in four sets during the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the awards. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.