MARQUETTE, Mich. — The Northern Michigan volleyball team scored its first victory of the season in commanding fashion, downing Lake Superior State, 3-0, in the opening game of the 2015 Wildcat Open Thursday night at Vandament Arena in front of 287 fans.

"Our players were really excited to play in front of our hometown fans at Vandament Arena," head coach Dominic Yoder said. "I thought we played very well considering we had different players in different positions to give them experiences in game play."

The Wildcats completed the sweep behind scores of 25-17, 25-11 and 25-16. As a team, Northern Michigan boasted a hitting percentage of .441 and only allowed the Lakers to post a percentage of .082.

In the first set, with the game knotted at 12-12, the Wildcats proceeded to go on a 13-5 run to score the victory. Lisa Studnicka posted seven kills, while Meghan Seymour opened the run with a service ace.

The Wildcats ran out to a 11-4 lead in the second set and never looked back. Northern Michigan posted a hitting percentage of .650 and held Lake Superior State to a .000 percentage. Seven Wildcats recorded kills in that set, with Studnicka and Kayla Chosa posting three apiece.

As they did in the first set, Northern Michigan pulled away from the Lakers with a late run. Ahead by a slim 12-10 margin, the Wildcats went on a 13-6 run to wrap up their three-set victory.

Overall, Studnicka led all players with 10 kills. The Wildcats were efficient on both offense and defense, averaging only seven errors per set.

"I'm happy we kept our errors down and maximized our scoring opportunites," Yoder said.

Lynzi Svoboda led all players with 23 assists while Alex Berger led all players with six digs. As a team, the Wildcats totaled five blocks.

The Wildcats return to the court tomorrow at 7 p.m. when they take on Cedarville in Wildcat Open action. The Wildcat Open begins at 11 a.m. with a match between Upper Iowa and Michigan Tech.