That was after the Wildcats fell in four sets in the opening-round quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

Visiting Wisconsin-Parkside prevailed 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 to advance to the tourney semifinals scheduled for Saturday in Big Rapids hosted by tourney No. 1 seed Ferris State.

NMU finished 12-4 and in a tie for third place in the GLIAC regular season to earn the No. 3 tourney seed and home court in the opening round. Parkside was a modest 9-7 and was part of a three-way tie for fifth, earning the No. 6 seed for the event.

But the Rangers (19-8 overall) posted 66 kills to just 42 for Northern, and even though the Wildcats (15-14 overall) committed 10 fewer attack errors, Parkside had a decisive edge in attack percentage, .195 to .114.

Northern Michigan University’s Madison York, center, makes this kill during the second set of a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal volleyball match played against Wisconsin-Parkside at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

McKenzie Gruner paced the NMU offense with 19 kills while also making a team-leading four blocks. Her .333 attack percentage was easily the highest for any Northern player with 10 or more attacks.

Teammate Madison York added nine kills and Kaysie Bakke had eight along with three blocks. Northern’s Liesl Haugen made a team-high 20 digs and two service aces, while Allie Barlow contributed 36 assists, nine digs, a block and an ace.

The Wildcats jumped out quickly, taking a 9-1 lead in the opening set after Bakke had two kills and Gruner one, along with Haugen and Lauren Cardwell each sprinkling in an ace.

The Rangers battled back to get within one point several times, the first time at 14-13, but NMU held them off until Parkside grabbed a critical 23-22 advantage with four points in a row.

The Wildcats showed their resiliency, though, taking three consecutive points to not only retie the score but win the set. That string included a Gruner kill and two UWP errors.

Despite Northern jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the next set, things went downhill for the Wildcats after that. That early streak included two kills by York and one apiece by Bakke and Gruner.

NMU kept the lead until Parkside tied it 12-12, then the Rangers started taking control with a 5-0 run to go ahead 20-16. One more 3-0 run sealed the set for UWP.

The Wildcats took an early lead in the third set, too, a 4-0 run propelling them to a 13-7 advantage. That spurt included a pair of York kills.

But Parkside answered with a 9-1 streak to retake a 19-17 lead. They played about even until the Rangers had two set points at 24-22. Northern saved the first one, but lost the second to fall into a 2-1 sets deficit.

With the season on the line, NMU grabbed a 4-1 advantage in Set 4, getting an Emilia Gulock kill and aces from Barlow and Sydney Bartels.

Then Parkside went on an extended 7-2 string to grab a 9-7 lead. The teams remained within three points of each other the rest of the set, but unfortunately for the Wildcats, that included the final 25-22 set score that ended their season.

In the other GLIAC quarterfinals Wednesday, No. 1 seed Ferris clinched its home court edge for the semifinals and finals with a 3-1 win over No. 8 Purdue Northwest, No. 2 Wayne State blanked No. 7 Michigan Tech 3-0, and No. 4 Grand Valley State zapped No. 5 Davenport 3-0.

Ferris and GVSU square off in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by Parkside vs. Wayne State at 6:30 p.m. Those winners meet in the tourney championship at 4 p.m. Sunday.

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