AURORA, Ill. — The Northern Michigan volleyball team finished the Mizuno Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament with a 3-0 record behind a five-set victory over William Jewell Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats, who defeated Maryville and Malone in four sets on the first day, defeated the Cardinals in the decisive fifth set, 15-10. Madison Whitehead paced the Northern Michigan offense, totaling a season-high 21 kills, five shy of her career high set during the Wildcat's upset of No. 1 Ferris State last year.

Maggie Liebeck, Megan Crane, Rachel Braunschweig and Jami Hogeboom had career performances against William Jewell. Hogeboom set a new career high with 67 assists, her second 60-assist effort of 2016. Liebeck (17) and Crane (11) set new career-best totals in kills while Braunschweig set a new career-high with 26 digs.

"This was a good win for us and a great weekend," head coach Dominic Yoder said. "Madison, Maggie and Kayla Chosa did a great job for us at the net. Defensively, Rachel was spot on with her career high in digs. Jamie did a very nice job distributing the offense."

The Wildcats scored a commanding 25-15 victory in the first set, posting five runs of three or more points. They sealed their win by winning four of the final five points.

The second set was tighter, with the teams being locked in 13 ties, including at 18-18. Northern Michigan went on to take seven of the final 10 points to score a 25-21 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Cardinals regrouped, going well into extra points to down the Wildcats, 31-29, in the fourth set. After Northern Michigan opened the set with a 10-4 run, William Jewell took 13 of the next 20 points to tie the set at 17-17. From that point on, the teams were tied 11 times, including at 29-29.

The Cardinals rode the momentum from fighting off a sweep into the fourth set, opening the set with an 11-7 run. The Wildcats cut the deficit to a single point with a 3-0 run, but William Jewell answered with a 5-0 run to build a more comfortable six-point cushion. While Northern Michigan went on to take 10 of the next 16 points to draw back within two points, at 22-20, the Cardinals forced the fifth set by winning the final three points.

In the decisive fifth set, the Wildcats won five of the final nine points, with Whitehead sealing their fifth five-set victory of the season with a kill.

With the win, Northern Michigan improved to 13-9 and ran its winning streak to four matches, tying their season-best streak. The Wildcats return to Vandament Arena for the first time since the October's first weekend next week, hosting Ohio Dominican (Oct. 21, 7 p.m.) and Lake Erie (Oct. 22, 4 p.m.)