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Going the distance: NMU volleyball prevails again in 5-setter vs. Tech

NMU volleyball prevails again in 5-setter vs. Tech

By Steve Brownlee 5 min read

MARQUETTE -- Five is the maximum number of sets in a college volleyball match.

But for the Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech teams, it seems to have become the minimum when they face each other.

For the fourth straight time spanning all or parts of three seasons, the Wildcats and Huskies went the distance on Tuesday night at Vandament Arena before NMU came out on top in the fifth and final set 15-10.

It's been the same result going back to the their second encounter of the 2024 season -- NMU winning in five sets.

This time around, the teams alternated winning sets, Northern prevailing 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10.

Nearly 1,000 fans packed Vandament on White Out night with everyone encouraged to wear white, according to the match report filed by NMU Sports Information.

And one of the Wildcats' new stars didn't disappoint her fans. Sophomore Kaylie McIntosh, who played a supporting role as an attacker a year ago when First Team all-conference star McKenzie Gruner was setting NMU records, has come to the forefront this season, especially Tuesday.

She set her career-high with 28 kills as she posted a sterling .321 attack percentage. That was the most kills by a Northern player at Vandament since Jacqueline Smith also posted her career high with the same 28 kills against the Huskies on Oct. 30, 2024.

"I'm extremely proud of our team's mental toughness tonight," McIntosh said immediately after the match. "Through the intense rallies, we stayed composed as a unit and remained within our system when we were down. Our hitters had full confidence in our defense to cover us while hitting, and that trust is what got us through to the end.

"This was the confidence boost that we needed, and I'm super excited for the rest of the season."

While her performance sounds like she was a one-woman wrecking crew, freshman teammate Anna O'Keefe added 14 kills, while Laynie Russell had 12 and Olivia Ziemer eight as the Wildcats held an edge of a dozen kills, 70-58, over MTU, while compiling a team attack percentage of .241, their second best this season.

On defense, Larsen Bonnstetter had four blocks and Russell three, while Allie Barlow posted 61 assists, just one off her career high. She also had 13 digs, two blocks and two service aces.

Among Bonnstetter's blocks were a combined one with O'Keefe on the final point of the fifth set to end the match.

And Liesl Haugen added a team-high 16 digs, becoming the fourth NMU player to reach 1,500 career digs, as Ziemer had 15 and Lauren Cardwell 10.

The Huskies were led by Rachel Zurek, who almost kept up with McIntosh with 24 digs and a sterling .340 attack percentage.

While both teams are now 6-7 overall, Northern moved ahead of the Tech in early returns from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Wildcats now 3-2 and MTU 2-3. Three teams are ahead of NMU -- Ferris State (10-0 overall) is 4-0 in league, Grand Valley State (8-2 overall) is also 4-0, while Saginaw Valley State (7-3) is 3-1.

In Northern's opening-set victory, the lead changed hands several times before a Wildcats' 6-1 run put them up 16-13. In that spurt, McIntosh and O'Keefe each had a kill as the Huskies committed four errors.

The teams mostly traded points until NMU scored the final two points on back-to-back kills by McIntosh and O'Keefe.

Tech led throughout the second set, its largest lead of six, 18-12, following a 7-2 run. Northern's lone three-point run came late after Ziemer and O'Keefe had kills to make it 24-22 before a Zurek kill closed it out.

There were numerous ties in the third set, too, before the Wildcats reeled off a 5-1 run late to go up 23-19, the string paced by a pair of McIntosh kills, one by O'Keefe and an ace by Barlow.

NMU closed it out on a Tech service error.

MTU got back in the match in the fourth set as it never trailed, even though Northern tied it several times, at 7-7 and 15-15. The Huskies took control with a 4-2 run to get to set point at 24-19, but the Wildcats saved it three straight times including with a Ziemer kill, but an NMU service error ended the set.

In the deciding fifth set, the crowd had to be on pins and needles as the lead changed hands several times early on. But a Russell kill made it 6-5 as Northern kept the lead throughout after that.

Tech scored on back-to-back points to pull within 11-9, but the Wildcats canceled that out by immediately scoring the next three points, led by McIntosh and O'Keefe kills and a Barlow ace.

That got it to match point, 14-10, before the Huskies saved one of those points with a Zurek kill. That was followed by the combined Bonnstetter-O'Keefe block to end the day.

A TV broadcast edited down to one hour will be shown on Fox-U.P. at 6 p.m. Friday.

The Wildcats hit the road for at least six of their next seven matches. They travel to GLIAC co-leader Grand Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday before returning home to face Wisconsin-Parkside at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2.

Following will be three consecutive conference road matches from Oct. 3-10, then a visit to the Midwest Crossover event hosted by Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, on Oct. 16-17. That schedule hasn't been announced but should include at least one match each of day.

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

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