Northern Michigan University’s six players on the floor, including junior setter Allie Barlow with arms upraised at center, excitedly huddle on the court during a Wildcats’ match earlier this season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — It’s literally the “home” stretch of the season for the volleyball team at Northern Michigan University.

So far, the Wildcats have played all their nonconference matches and seven of their 16 encounters in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

That’s 19 matches in all. And yet they’ve only had two matches at their home Vandament Arena.

How could that be? A large part is playing three tournaments in other states, where there wouldn’t be a return engagement in Marquette.

But that’s all about to change, when NMU plays seven of its last nine regular-season matches back on campus at Vandament.

It starts with one of the toughest matchups, a 4 p.m. match on Friday against GLIAC coleader Grand Valley State. The Lakers are 12-5 overall and 7-1 in conference matches, tied with Ferris State, which the Wildcats will get at home exactly two weeks later.

The second match this weekend is at 3 p.m. Saturday against Wayne State, no pushover in third place at 14-4 and 6-2.

The matches can be watched online at FloCollege and will also be broadcast on Marquette radio station WUPK 94.1 FM The Breeze.

Fans can stay connected with @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for updates throughout the weekend, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the volleyball schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live statistics and a preview.

Northern resides in fifth place in the GLIAC, but only a half-game behind WSU and actually only a game and a half in arrears to the league leaders. NMU is a modest 7-11 overall, having played a bunch of nationally ranked opponents at their tourneys, but 5-2 in the GLIAC.

Last weekend, the Wildcats completed their third tournament in a third different state. This one was the Midwest Region Crossover hosted by Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, and included 38 teams from the GLIAC, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

That came well after the season-opening SpringHill Suites Invitational in Pensacola, Florida, and the Huskies Volleyball Classic in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

In those three, Northern went a combined 2-9, including losing two of three in Indiana last weekend, all against teams with winning records and one with a recent national ranking.

NMU lost in three straight sets to former GLIAC and current G-MAC member Findlay and also to GLVC member Quincy, then swept former GLIAC and current G-MAC member Ashland.

“The Crossover tournament was a really good measuring stick to see where we are at,” Wildcats head coach Mike Lozier said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing this weekend. “Now we have two really tough opponents coming up who are ahead of us in the standings.”

For the season, junior libero Liesl Haugen leads the Northern defense after recently earning back-to-back GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. She had a conference season-high 38 digs in a five-set victory at Michigan Tech, which also ranks second by just one to the NMU record of 39.

Since returning from injury on Sept. 26, she ranks second in the GLIAC with 5.0 digs per set in conference matches.

Then on offense, senior middle blocker McKenzie Gruner has double-digit kills in 10 matches, leading the league with a .385 hitting percentage in GLIAC matches, also ranking ninth with 88 kills.

Freshman outside hitter Kaylie McIntosh has emerged to average 11.9 kills per match over the past seven outings, including a 19-kill, two-error performance vs. MTU. She’s also second in the GLIAC with 0.5 service aces per set.

Finally, assisting in all of this is junior setter Allie Barlow, who is fourth in GLIAC matches averaging 9.88 assists per set and has helped her team have a number of matches where multiple players have double-digit kill totals.

Grand Valley boasts one of the most efficient offenses in the country, ranking 16th with a .262 hitting percentage and 45th with 13.4 kills per set.

But the Lakers also lead the conference with 2.3 blocks per set as Brianna Stawski leads the league in overall matches with a .384 hitting percentage.

Wayne State is similar to GVSU as an efficient offense, ranking 18th nationally with 13.9 assists per set and 25th with 13.8 kills per set. And the Warriors are No. 1 in the GLIAC in several defensive categories, only allowing 11.2 kills per set and also a .148 hitting percentage.

The Warriors’ Kayla Duglar is tops in the league with 10.7 assists per set, while Kayla Giroux is second in the GLIAC with 246 kills and a .377 hitting percentage in conference matches.

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