But the one-win Wildcats beat the frontrunners in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in five sets, then added a three-set sweep against struggling Roosevelt the next day to even their league record at 2-2.

NMU handed Parkside its first loss of the season as it improved to 3-9 overall. Parkside, one of 13 unbeatens in NCAA Division II entering the weekend and receiving votes in the national poll, fell to 9-1 and 2-1, while Roosevelt is now 1-11 and 0-4.

“Overall, I’m very proud of our team this weekend,” Northern assistant coach Lauren Van Remortel said in NMU Sports Information news releases about the matches. “While our physical play was shaky at times, the mental toughness that the team showed down the stretch both (Friday) night and (Saturday) is a true testament to how hard they’ve been working.”

NMU hits the road again for three straight weekends, the first two in GLIAC play before heading to the Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover in Hammond, Indiana, on Oct. 17-18.

Northern Michigan University’s Kaylie McIntosh, left, spikes the ball over Wisconsin-Parkside’s front line during their GLIAC volleyball match played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Before that, the Wildcats play at University Center located between Saginaw and Bay City to take on Saginaw Valley State at 6 p.m. Friday, then return north to Sault Ste. Marie to face Lake Superior State at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Here are details from the home weekend:

NMU 3, Parkside 2

On Friday evening, Northern had to come from behind after trailing through three sets to prevail 26-24, 17-25, 13-25, 25-21, 15-7.

NMU had a balanced offensive attack as four players recorded double-digit kills. Senior captain McKenzie Gruner led the way with 13 kills, while Madison York had 11 and Emilia Gulock and Sydney Bartels 10 apiece. Gulock also had a nifty .318 attack percentage while Gruner was at .303.

Liesl Haugen recorded 25 digs, six assists and two service aces, while Bartels had 16 digs and Gulock five blocks as Gruner and York added three blocks each. Allie Barlow quarterbacked the offense with 39 assists.

“I am insanely proud of the team for their resilience tonight,” said Wildcats assistant coach Kamryn Duffield in an NMU SI release. “This was an all-around gritty victory. Both of our middle (hitter)s had an awesome performance and our block and defense was extremely disciplined, which led us to the win.

“We are so happy to get a win in our first match in Vandament this year.”

Head coach Mike Lozier improved to 7-2 in his season home openers at NMU.

The teams traded two- and three-point runs early in the first set before Northern scored six in a row to take a 15-11 lead. In that streak, Gulock and York had kills as Parkside committed four attack errors.

The Rangers responded immediately with their own 6-0 run to go back up 17-15, and the teams remained within two points of each other right through “overtime” as extra points were needed to get the final two-point margin.

Parkside got back-to-back kills by Sam Fisch to get to match point first at 24-23, but Northern ended it by scoring the final three points, each on Gulock kills.

The Rangers dug deep to take leads of 4-0 and 13-6 in the second set, then Parkside was able to put more point streaks together the rest of the set to even the match 1-1.

UWP was able to get off to another fast start in Set 3, going ahead 6-0 and 13-4. Northern answered with a 4-1 run, keyed by a Lauren Cardwell ace and several Parkside service errors.

But the Rangers scored about two points for every one of NMU’s after that, taking an even more decisive victory and 2-1 sets lead.

Needing to regroup, otherwise becoming another win in Parkside’s belt, the Wildcats jumped out early for a 5-2 advantage in Set 4. Leading Northern in the streak was a York kill but also four Rangers’ errors.

Parkside managed to tie it 5-5, and after falling behind, tie it again at 12-12.

But Northern was determined to rebuild its lead, going on a 7-2 run for a 19-14 edge. That streak included a pair of Gruner kills and one by Bartels along with a Kaysie Bakke ace.

Parkside had one more response left, scoring five in a row to cut Northern’s lead to 22-21. But that’s when the home squad scored three straight points including a Gulock kill and Barlow ace to even the match and force a fifth set.

In the final set, Northern quickly fell behind 5-1 but soon after rattled off a 9-0 run to take control. That streak included what NMU Sports Information termed six emphatic kills, three by Bartels.

While the Wildcats gave up a point on an Abby Alms kill for Parkside to end the scoring streak, they turned right around to score the final three points of the set and match, two on Gruner kills and the final one on a Parkside attack error.

NMU 3, Roosevelt 0

On Saturday afternoon, despite the three-set sweep, the Lakers put up a good fight with Northern winning 26-24, 27-25, 25-22.

Gruner tied her career high with 15 kills, eight in a grind-it-out second set, that led to her having a sterling .414 attack percentage. She also joined Gulock and York with a match-high four blocks.

Freshman Kaylie McIntosh added seven kills and a match-high four aces, while Haugen had 12 digs and Barlow 32 assists. McIntosh led Northern’s best-of-the-season nine aces as a team.

The squads traded points early before each team had multi-point runs as the Lakers took a 10-9 lead. Northern finally took some control with a 6-1 run that led to a 19-16 advantage. That run included McIntosh and York kills and a Haugen ace.

The Wildcats continued to nurse that small lead that began to loom big late in the set. NMU then had three set points at 24-21, but Roosevelt saved all three of them, only to watch Northern score back-to-back points on McIntosh and York kills to end the set.

The Wildcats jumped out again in a just-as-tight second set, though the Lakers came back to force ties at five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10.

This time around, Roosevelt took a lead it wouldn’t relinquish until a McIntosh kill tied it 18-18. The visitors then scored three straight only to have Northern do the same, retying it 21-21.

Finally, the Lakers reached set point first at 24-23, but NMU answered with back-to-back kills by Bartels and Gruner to get to its own set point, 25-24.

After a Northern service error retied it, Roosevelt also messed up its serve right before Gruner slammed a kill to give NMU a 2-0 lead.

The Wildcats jumped out in the final set, scoring seven in a row for a 7-1 lead. That streak included three straight aces by McIntosh and four total by her in that early part of the set.

That set the tone for the set as Roosevelt never caught up, even while scoring eight straight points to pull within 23-20.

Gruner then made a final kill to end the match on double set point.

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