Local Sports

Wildcats volleyball travels to Midwest Crossover

MARQUETTE -- It took a bit of time, but Northern Michigan University has finally been able to announce who the volleyball Wildcats will play at the Midwest Crossover tournament being held in Hammond, Indiana, on Friday and Saturday.

There might have been a bit of logistics for organizers to deal with, as 37 teams from three Midwest conferences are converging at Purdue Northwest University, generally for three matches apiece. The leagues are NMU's own Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, plus the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Between them, the leagues cover seven states ranging from Michigan and Wisconsin in the north; Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in the middle; and Kentucky and Missouri a bit further south.

Friday's doubleheader has the Wildcats facing Lewis of the GLVC at 12:30 p.m. EDT, then Ohio Dominican of the G-MAC at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

NMU is also scheduled to play once Saturday, but apparently that will be figured out on-site as there are a number of matches based on seeding at 12:30 p.m. EDT and 3 p.m. EDT.

This might not be a bad time for Northern -- and every other GLIAC team -- to take a break from league play, as the Wildcats have won three of their last four, even while coming off a three-set loss at Wayne State on Saturday.

Matches this weekend will be live streamed through BallerTV with live statistics also available, according to a GLIAC news release about the event, while Northern fans in particular can stay connected @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for updates throughout the weekend.

Or visit the Wildcats athletic site at nmuwildcats.com and look under the volleyball schedule for links to live video, the tournament page and a preview.

NMU stands at 9-9 overall and 6-4 in the GLIAC, tied with Saginaw Valley State for third place in the 11-team league.

Lewis is 11-8 and 5-2 in the GLVC, good for a tie for fourth in their 14-team loop, while Ohio Dominican is 15-5 and 7-3 in the G-MAC, a half-game out of the lead in that league's South Division while having fifth-best record in the 13-team conference.

"Lewis is a perennial NCAA tournament team, and that will be a great matchup for us," said Northern head coach Mike Lozier in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the Midwest Crossover. "We are really excited to play them. The last couple of years, Ohio Dominican has really elevated their play.

"The more successful the GLIAC is at this tournament, the better our chances are to get at-large bids to the NCAA tournament."

A week ago, the Wildcats defeated Davenport in Grand Rapids in four sets, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season and knocking them from their part of the third-place tie in the GLIAC.

NMU notched a season-high 11 service aces, three each from Allie Barlow and Liesl Haugen, while also tying a season-high with 10 blocks as Laynie Russell led the way with five. KC Fortune led the attack with 13 kills as freshmen Russell and Anna O'Keefe added 10 apiece.

But the team's three-match winning streak ended a day later in Detroit when Wayne State won in a commanding three straight sets, NMU not scoring more than 15 points in any set. Probably the most telling stat was attack percentage, with WSU hitting at .411 and Northern at just .100. Northern's latest lead in any set was 3-2 as O'Keefe led the Wildcats with seven kills.

Barlow has already been named GLIAC Setter of the Week twice this season, accumulating 683 assists this season and averaging 10.04 assists per set, each second in the league. When she reached 3,000 assists earlier in the campaign, she became just the eighth NMU player to accomplish that.

Kaylie McIntosh leads Northern with 220 kills this season, ranking her No. 4 in the GLIAC. O'Keefe with 175, Russell 146 and Fortune 122 also have triple-digit kills.

Haugen has stood out in the back row this fall, ranking fourth in the league with 4.58 digs per set. She's surpassed 1,500 career digs already, just the fourth player at Northern to do so.

Story contents based on press releases from Northern Michigan University Sports Information and the GLIAC previewing the matches. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.