NMU volleyball loses 2 of 3 at Midwest Crossover
Trending
Northern Michigan University's KC Fortune serves during a GLIAC volleyball match against Wisconsin-Parkside at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Oct. 2. (Photo courtesy Carla Kamps)
The Wildcats faced a trio of teams with winning records from the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference, teams NMU could potentially be compared against when the NCAA decides the field for the Division II national tournament in November.
In Hammond, Northern opened with a four-set victory over Lewis of the GLVC before falling in four sets each to G-MAC members Ohio Dominican and Findlay.
The Wildcats are now 10-11 overall and 6-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with nothing but league matches remaining until the end of the regular season.
There are six of those, with the next four at home. It starts with league-leading, undefeated and national No. 1 Ferris State coming to Vandament Arena at 6 p.m. Friday, while less than 24 hours later, ninth-place Purdue Northwest visits at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Here are details from Purdue NW:
NMU 3, Lewis 1
Early Friday afternoon, Northern prevailed 25-16, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20 as Lewis fell to 11-9.
The Wildcats had a balanced attack, with freshman Laynie Russell making 13 kills, teammates KC Fortune and Kaylie McIntosh slamming 12 apiece, and another freshman, Anna O'Keefe adding in 11 kills.
O'Keefe also led NMU with five blocks as Russell had three.
Lauren Cardwell led Northern with 14 digs and three service aces, while Allie Barlow had 46 assists, nine digs and two aces.
"Really proud of how the team handled some adversity in this first match," Northern associate head coach Kamryn Duffield said in an NMU Sports Information news release detailing that day's matches. "We did a great job being willing to make adjustments on the fly and finding ways to score.
"Allie did a great job distributing our offense as well."
The Wildcats quickly jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the match, that string including two O'Keefe kills and one each by McIntosh, Russell and Fortune, along with an ace by Cardwell.
NMU kept a lead of at least three points the rest of the set, ending it on a Fortune kill.
In the second set, the lead changed hands several times before Lewis went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 13-7. Northern couldn't put more than two consecutive points together after that as the Flyers evened the match.
The Wildcats again jumped out early in the third set, with a 5-1 run making it 20-13. That run included two kills from Russell and one from Fortune.
Lewis scored four straight to pull within 22-19, but NMU ended the set on a 3-1 run after kills by O'Keefe, Cardwell, and on set point, Fortune.
The Flyers grabbed the early lead in the fourth set before a 4-0 run by Northern put it up 13-11. That spurt included a McIntosh kill and Olivia Ziemer ace.
The Wildcats' final push was a 6-2 run, including two Barlow aces and a kill by McIntosh and by Fortune, though match point came on a Flyers' bad set.
Ohio Dominican 3, NMU 1
Late Friday afternoon, the Panthers were winners, 18-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-9, to improve to 16-6.
McIntosh again had a dozen kills to finish the day with 24, while O'Keefe had nine kills in this match and Barlow six. Barlow also led the Wildcats with three aces, three blocks and 33 assists, adding in six digs, too.
Cardwell pace the Northern defense with 11 digs as Fortune had seven along with two aces.
NMU used a 5-1 run, including back-to-back-to-back McIntosh kills, to tie it 12-12. Northern added a 7-1 run, with two Russell kills and a pair of Fortune aces, to go up 22-17. The Wildcats finished off the set with three consecutive points, with kills by McIntosh and O'Keefe and an ace by Barlow.
The Panthers applied the clamps after that, though. In Set 2, ODU led 10-9 before scoring eight straight points to take control.
In the third, Ohio Dominican reeled off four- and seven-point runs to take a 14-4 lead, though NMU answered with a 9-2 streak to get back within 23-19, and while averting one set point, couldn't catch up all the way.
The Wildcats had a chance at the start of the fourth set, trailing just 3-2. But the Panthers' 10-0 run, followed by a pair of 6-1 spurts, ended any NMU's chances.
Findlay 3, NMU 1
On Saturday afternoon, Findlay prevailed 20-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-23 as the Oilers improved to 12-8.
Fortune led the Wildcats with 12 kills, 11 digs and three aces, while McIntosh and Russell each made 10 kills. Barlow had 36 assists, 10 digs and two aces; Ziemer added in nine digs, two aces and an assist; while Russell had four blocks and an assist.
Northern asserted itself early, taking a 9-4 lead, and kept building on it until it was 15-8 in the first set.
But Findlay stormed back, reeling off seven straight points to tie it 15-15. Still tied 18-18, Northern pulled off a 5-0 run, including a pair of Russell kills and a Fortune ace, closing out the set with back-to-back kills by Fortune and McIntosh.
The Oilers grabbed an early lead in the second set, and while the Wildcats pulled as close as 7-6, they never caught Findlay. Findlay used a 6-1 run to reopen a lead, repeating that total later in the set for a 21-11 advantage.
It didn't go any better in Set 3, with Findlay starting out 6-1, though NMU quickly tied it 7-7 on a run that included kills by Fortune, Russell and Larsen Bonnstetter, plus a Cardwell ace.
Northern stayed close until the Oilers began stringing points together again. Even with Russell making a pair of kills late, the Wildcats couldn't avert the loss.
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.