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Rivals clash tonight: NMU volleyball team hosts Tech at Vandament Arena

NMU volleyball team hosts Tech at Vandament Arena

By Steve Brownlee 5 min read

MARQUETTE -- Maybe the fans of the Northern Michigan University volleyball team will be trying to make Michigan Tech feel right at home tonight in the Wildcats' Vandament Arena.

The NMU athletic department is touting the 6 p.m. match as the White Out, encouraging fans to wear white as a form of solidarity. It might make the Huskies feel like it's a peaceful, snowy evening in Marquette, too.

Of course, with today being the first day of fall, even for us it's a bit early for that, so both teams should brace for a raucous crowd watching their play.

This is the first of at least two meetings between the teams this season. Their other rumble in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is scheduled as their second-to-last regular-season match on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in Houghton.

And there's always the chance they could meet in the GLIAC Tournament, either in the first round or later in the bracket.

For tonight's White Out, the first 50 students receive a free white NMU T-shirt, with the competition also available on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point. And it's going to be televised at 6 p.m. Friday on Fox-U.P. in a special 60-minute condensed version.

Fans can also follow @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for updates, or visit the Wildcats athletic website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the volleyball schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live statistics and a preview.

Last weekend, both these Upper Peninsula rivals defeated league foe Davenport at home, Northern in four sets and MTU in three. NMU also lost to Saginaw Valley State in four sets, while the Huskies were swept by league leader and national No. 1 Ferris State in three sets.

In their own series against each other, Northern has won four straight over Tech, with the last three coming in five sets. Overall, The Wildcats have a big 94-32 overall edge dating back to 1976.

NMU is 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC, all four conference contests going four sets. The remainder of matches have come in a pair of four-match tournaments, the Wildcats splitting at their own UP North Volleyball Tournament from Aug. 27-29, then winning once at the Cal State East Bay Tournament in Hayward, California, from Sept. 3-5.

In Friday's win over Davenport, sophomore Kaylie McIntosh led the Northern offense with 17 kills as freshman Anna O'Keefe added 12. McIntosh again led in the SVSU match on Saturday, piling up 19 kills as O'Keefe had 14.

In addition, senior Allie Barlow went past the 3,000 career assists mark on Saturday vs. the Cardinals, now joining a group of seven previous Wildcats accomplishing that feat.

McIntosh leads a balanced attack with 141 kills, No. 5 in the GLIAC, while O'Keefe has 119, which for her began with a 20-kill day vs. Winona State at the UP North event. Another freshman, Laynie Russell, has 94 kills with at least nine in seven of her past eight matches, while senior KC Fortune has 80 kills.

The Wildcats' youth movement also includes sophomore Grace Allen making 24 kills over her last three matches and freshman Olivia Ziemer having 34 in the last five.

Michigan Tech joins Northern as part of a five-way logjam for fourth place in the 11-team GLIAC at 2-2. Only 4-0 Ferris, 4-0 Grand Valley State and 3-1 SVSU are ahead of them.

Against Davenport last weekend, the Huskies won 30-28, 25-21, 25-23, with a .261 attack percentage, their second best of the season.

Looking at some GLIAC stats, being tied in the standings also means they're fairly close in numerous data points. MTU hits a bit better than the Wildcats, .216 to .182, but Northern averages a bit more in digs, 15.93 to 15.47 per set, and blocks, 1.61 to 1.35 per set.

Team and individual stats for the entire league are available at the GLIAC website, gliac.org.

Among the top individuals in the league, Barlow is second in assists with 10.09 per set and Tech's Madelynn Kreider fourth at 9.96.

Tech's Rachel Zurek is second in kills at 4.12 per set and McIntosh just misses the top five in sixth at 3.28 a set. Northern's Liesl Haugen is third in digs at 4.40 per set, with the Huskies' Keeley Nellis fifth at 4.22.

Zurek is also second in points with 4.34 per set, while McIntosh is seventh at 3.74.

NMU SI notes that Zurek's 202 kills is No. 1 in the GLIAC and 10th in NCAA Division II, as she has reached double digits in all but one match this season.

The Huskies are led by second-year coach Cindy Pindral, who had been assistant head coach, assistant coach and a volunteer coach at MTU from 2016-22. Last year, Tech was 12-16 overall and 9-7 in the conference.

On the Wildcats' bench is 10th-year head man Mike Lozier, whose team in 2025 got off to a slow start, but finished at 15-14 overall and 12-4 in the GLIAC, tied for third but just one game behind co-champions Wayne State and Ferris.

Barlow and Haugen were GLIAC Second Team honorees in 2025 who have returned this year.

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

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