CANYON, Texas — In its third match of the Lady Buff Classic, the Northern Michigan volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory over McKendree Saturday afternoon. 

"McKendree is a very good team that will do some damage in the GLVC, and this was a pivotal regional win for us," head coach Dominic Yoder said. "Going into this match, we knew the importance this match would have on our end-of-year regional rankings. I'm very proud of my team's resilience after last night's match."

Every set was decided by three or fewer points. The Wildcats moved to 3-1 on the young season with the win.

The Wildcats took the first set, 25-22, to jump out to the lead. After the Bearcats rallied from a 17-14 deficit to even the score at 20, Northern Michigan drew ahead by two behind kills by Autumn Monsma and Kayla Chosa and then closed out the win.

McKendree won the second set by a 25-22 margin, but the Wildcats captured the third, 25-23, in come-from-behind fashion.

The Bearcats opened the third set by building a 13-5 advantage. Northern Michigan slowly chipped away at their lead; then, with Megan Dahl serving, the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to pull within two at 18-16.

In Northern Michigan's 5-1 run to seal the third-set victory, Marta Fraga Guntin recorded four of her match-leading 15 kills.

The Wildcats then pulled out a 25-22 win in the decisive fourth set. This time, they raced out to the early lead, building a 10-5 edge. After that, they never allowed the Bearcats to even the score, though they did have to withstand a late rally to pull out the win.

Fraga Guntin tied Allison Schneider for the match high in kills. Monsma (10) and Bridget Bussell (10) also reached the double digits in kills.

"This 2016 team has a lot of fight in them," Yoder said. "Our left-side hitters were outstanding offensively. They really took the pressure off our middles and right-side hitters and showed the offensive diversity we possess."

Jami Hogeboom led all players with 36 assists. Megan Dahl (14), Hogeboom (10) and Monsma (10) all reached the double digits in digs.

Northern Michigan wraps up play at the Lady Buff Classic against Adams State at 4:30 p.m.