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Volleyball Wildcats split 4 matches in Texas

CANYON, Texas – The Northern Michigan University volleyball team split its four matches at the Lady Buff Classic after losing to Adams State (Colorado) in five sets on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats opened with a comeback 3-2 victory over Eastern New Mexico on Friday morning before losing to tourney host West Texas A&M that night. Then on Saturday, Northern opened with a victory over McKendree (Illinois).

The Wildcats (3-2) return to action this weekend at the Wisconsin-Parkside Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Here is a rundown on the latest three matches:

West Texas A&M 3, NMU 0

The Lady Buffs prevailed 26-24, 25-20, 25-18.

“Our team battled,” NMU head coach Dominic Yoder said. “The match was very competitive. A few point swings were the difference.”

In the first set, Northern trailed 19-12 before going on an 8-1 run to tie it 20-20. But West Texas regrouped, fighting off a set point.

In the second set, West Texas used an early 6-0 run, then pulled ahead 15-8 and never looked back in the final set.

Kayla Chosa paced the Northern, recording 11 kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Jami Hogeboom posted a match-high 29 assists.

NMU 3, McKendree 1

The Wildcats won 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22.

“McKendree is a very good team that will do some damage in the (Great Lakes Valley Conference), and this was a pivotal regional win for us,” Yoder said. “Going into this match, we knew the importance this match would have on our end-of-year regional rankings.”

The Bearcats rallied in the first set to pull even at 20-20 before Northern’s Autumn Monsma and Kayla Chosa each had kills to retake the lead and close it out.

After tying the match by winning the second set, McKendree had a chance to take control when it went ahead 13-5 in the third. NMU came back with a five-point service run by Megan Dahl to pull within 18-16. Led by Marta Fraga Guntin’s four kills in a 5-1 flourish, the Wildcats finished strongly.

Northern kept going, opening the fourth set up 10-5 and led the rest of the way.

Fraga Guntin and Allison Schneider led NMU with 15 kills each, while Monsma and Bridget Bussell added 10 apiece.

Jami Hogeboom led all players with 36 assists, while teammate Megan Dahl added 14 digs.

Adams State 3, NMU 2

The Grizzlies prevailed 16-25, 25-13, 15-25, 25-21, 15-8.

“It was a tough loss,” Yoder said. “This one stung, but I’m proud of how our team competed over the last three days.”

Northern opened the first set with a 10-2 run.

Adams responded with its own dominating victory in the second set before the teams traded points early in the third. NMU scored four straight to take a 16-12 lead then closed it out with another four in a row.

After the fourth set went back and forth, the Grizzlies built a 5-0 advantage to open the final set.

Madison Whitehead led Northern’s offense with 15 kills, while Chosa and Bussell added 12 each. Jami Hogeboom recorded 51 assists to reach the 50 plateau for the first time this season and fifth time in her career.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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