Losses hurt Wildcats’ quest for GLIAC volleyball tourney home court
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MARQUETTE -- The Northern Michigan University volleyball team is losing ground, but still has at least a mathematical chance of drawing a home court berth in the first-round quarterfinals of the upcoming tournament held in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Wildcats fell into a tie for sixth place with losses in their final pair of home matches over the past weekend at Vandament Arena. NMU lost to second-place Grand Valley State in three sets before falling to eighth-place Wayne State in five.
Northern and the rest of the league have two matches left this week before seeding is determined. NMU travels to Houghton to take on Michigan Tech at 6 p.m. today, then heads south to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to face Wisconsin-Parkside at 7 p.m. EST Friday. The NMU-Tech matchup will be televised on a delayed basis at 7 p.m. Friday on Fox-U.P.
The top four seeds earn home court over the next four teams, fifth place through eighth place, in the opening round. At 11-14 overall and 7-7 in the GLIAC, the Wildcats are one game behind the two teams tied for fourth place, MTU and Davenport each at 8-6, while they're also tied with Parkside at 7-7.
One thing Northern has locked up is a berth in the eight-team field, with ninth-place Purdue Northwest well back at 3-11 in league contests.
Here are details from the past weekend:
GVSU 3, NMU 0
On Friday evening, the Lakers showed why they're second only to national No. 1 Ferris State in the GLIAC, prevailing 25-16, 25-19, 25-23.
KC Fortune, Kaylie McIntosh and Anna O'Keefe each made seven kills to lead the Northern attack, while Laynie Russell had six.
Allie Barlow not only led the Wildcats with 23 assists, but joined Taylor Smaka in making two aces. Smaka also had a team-high nine digs as Fortune had eight and Barlow five. O'Keefe also had two blocks.
After the Lakers built a comfortable 19-7 lead in the first set, not allowing NMU back-to-back points in that span, Northern put together a 7-1 run to get back within 21-14. That string included two kills by Fortune and one each from O'Keefe and Russell, while Smaka had an ace.
But the Wildcats couldn't score consecutive points again as GVSU won the set.
NMU jumped out to a 4-2 lead in Set 2, McIntosh, Fortune, Russell and O'Keefe making kills, but the Lakers put together multiple 3-0 runs to go ahead 11-6.
Northern again answered with a 4-0 spurt, including a Barlow ace and three GVSU errors, to get within 11-10.
The teams traded points except for Grand Valley 3-0 and 4-0 spurts that put the Lakers in control 23-16.
NMU then scored back to back on O'Keefe kills, but soon after GVSU got the two points it needed to end the set.
Grand Valley jumped out quickly in Set 3, going up 8-2, though the Wildcats immediately answered with a 5-1 run, powered by a Fortune kill and Smaka ace, to pull within 9-7.
NMU stayed within reach, finally catching the Lakers at 23-23 after a Fortune kill and GVSU attack error.
But the Lakers responded with back-to-back points to end the set and match.
Wayne St. 3, NMU 2
On Saturday afternoon, the Warriors won a back-and-forth match, 25-20, 18-25, 12-25, 25-14, 15-12.
Before the start, Northern honored its seven seniors -- Barlow, Fortune, Kaysie Bakke, Sydney Bartels, Helen Beiring, Lauren Cardwell and Liesl Haugen.
McIntosh led the NMU offense with 17 kills, while Fortune had 14 and Russell nine. Fortune also had two aces and two blocks, while Russell contributed two blocks.
Barlow had 39 assists, eight digs and two aces, while Fortune and
The Northern Michigan University volleyball team saluted its seven seniors at a ceremony before their final home match of the regular season against Wayne State on Saturday. From left are KC Fortune, Helen Beiring, Kaysie Bakke, Liesl Haugen, Lauren Cardwell, Allie Barlow and Sydney Bartels. (Photo courtesy NMU)
In the opening set, after five ties, Wayne State went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-9 lead. The Wildcats remained close until a Warriors' 5-0 spurt made it 22-15.
Northern answered with a 5-1 string to get within 23-20, McIntosh getting two kills and Fortune and Russell one each.
But WSU scored the final two points to end the set.
NMU led wire to wire in Set 2, using an early 8-2 run and a finishing 5-2 spurt to clinch it. The early run included three kills by Russell, one by McIntosh and a Fortune ace, and the ending one a Barlow ace and four Warrior errors.
Northern started Set 3 much the same, with a 14-6 advantage following a 7-1 burst including Fortune and Russell kills and a Bartels ace.
The Wildcats kept piling on, finishing on a 4-1 run with the clinching point coming off a Russell kill.
Now with Northern ahead 2-1, Wayne State turned a 4-3 deficit early in the fourth set into a big 13-5 lead with a 10-1 run. NMU couldn't manage to put back-to-back points together as the Warriors evened the match.
Then in Set 5, Northern used a 5-0 run to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 9-7 lead, powered by a Fortune kill and four straight WSU errors, two credited to Russell blocks.
The visitors answered back with three straight points to go up 11-9, then NMU used a 3-1 string to tie it 12-12.
That's when the Warriors used the decisive and final burst of back-to-back-to-back points to end the match, the final point on an NMU attack error.
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.