Local Sports

Wildcats volleyball splits matches over homecoming

MARQUETTE -- The Northern Michigan University volleyball team split a pair of four-set conference matches over homecoming weekend, defeating Davenport before falling to Saginaw Valley State.

The Wildcats, who are now 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, remain home to host Michigan Tech at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Vandament Arena.

The Huskies split a pair of three-setters at home at the same time as NMU, falling to national No. 1 Ferris State before sweeping Davenport.

Here are details from homecoming weekend:

NMU 3, Davenport 1

On Friday afternoon at Vandament Arena, the Wildcats prevailed 22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 28-26.

The fourth set was a stunner, with Northern facing seven set points when it trailed 24-17. They won all seven to keep the set going, then exchanged several points before stringing three straight points together, the final two on a Cece Huizingh service ace and Grace Allen kill to end the set and match.

That was Huizingh's only ace of the match, while Allen made seven kills without an error for a sterling .500 attack percentage.

"I am incredibly proud of this team and their fight," Wildcats head coach Mike Lozier said in an NMU Sports Information news release detailing the match. "All week I challenged their mental toughness, and to see them have that type of response, especially in the fourth set, was special.

"Our outsides (hitters) really need to be shouted out. Down the stretch they were playing fearless, and Davenport just did not have an answer. That was a special win for sure."

Kaylie McIntosh led NMU's attack with 17 kills and a .324 attack percentage, adding three aces. Teammate Anna O'Keefe added 12 kills, while Laynie Russell had 11 and a .375 attack percentage.

Teammate Liesl Haugen led the Wildcats with 17 digs and four aces, while Allie Barlow had 45 assists and 10 digs.

Davenport took an early 6-3 lead before Northern tied it 9-9. Then the Wildcats streaked to a 13-10 lead on a four-point run powered by a pair of O'Keefe kills and two McIntosh aces.

The Panthers didn't retake the lead until finishing the set with a 5-1 run.

NMU jumped out to an 11-6 lead in Set 2, O'Keefe having a pair of kills early. Though DU put together a 4-0 run late, the Wildcats still had a 21-17 lead and put it out of reach with three straight points, including a Russell kill, and finally a McIntosh kill to end the set.

The Panthers found their range early in the third set, stringing together six straight points for an 8-5 advantage. But Northern stayed within four points, using a string of that length to tie it 22-22 that included two Haugen aces and an O'Keefe kill.

The teams traded points throughout "overtime" until a McIntosh kill followed immediately by a DU attack error ended the set.

After trading points to open the fourth set, NMU went on a 4-0 run to go up 13-10, the streak including kills by O'Keefe, Allen and Russell and an ace by Haugen.

But DU put together its own string, retaking a 19-15 lead that led to the seven set points at 24-17.

That's when the Wildcats methodically reeled off point after point, getting seven in a row that included two kills by Allen and one by McIntosh, combined with four Davenport attack errors.

But that didn't win the match, it only tied it 24-24. The teams alternated points until Northern's final three in a row actually ended it.

SVSU 3, NMU 1

On Saturday afternoon at Vandament Arena, the Cardinals won 18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20.

SVSU improved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the GLIAC by recording a season-high 11 blocks to six for Northern.

Barlow reached a milestone, making 42 assists to get past the 3,000 mark for her career, the eighth Wildcat to do that.

McIntosh again led the NMU offense with 19 kills, while O'Keefe had 14. Haugen and Huizingh shared digs honors with 15 apiece, while Olivia Ziemer had 10. Allen, Russell and Morgan Kuhl had two blocks each.

Northern jumped out early, taking 5-1, 8-3 and 11-6 leads in the first set. Among those points were three Russell kills and two by Allen. The Wildcats continued to score, seemingly two points for every one by SVSU, to push it to 22-14.

While the Cards pushed back with three straight points themselves, NMU finished it off, the final two points on McIntosh kills.

In the second set, Northern erased an early deficit with four straight points to go up 6-4. That streak was all SVSU errors, three on the attack.

But the visitors immediately answered with an 8-2 run to go ahead 12-8. Though the Wildcats answered to even the score at 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, SVSU used a 7-2 spurt to take control and end the set.

The third set was even for a long time, neither team scoring more than two points in a row until the Cardinals put together a 3-0 streak to go up 19-14.

While Northern answered with five straight to tie it 19-19, Ziemer and O'Keefe each getting two kills, Saginaw Valley pulled off a similar feat, scoring six of the last eight points to go up 2-1 in the match.

Set 4 was similar to the previous one, though SVSU took control earlier, scoring four straight to go up 14-10, a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

NMU got as close as 19-17 in the later going off a 4-0 spurt keyed by a pair of McIntosh kills. But the Cards finished on a 6-3 run to end the set and match.

Story contents based on a pair of Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the matches

. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.