Box Score MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Volleyball Team for Northern Michigan University advanced to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Davenport University.
The GLIAC Quarterfinals victory is their first GLIAC Tournament victory since the 2013 season. The second seed, the Wildcats will head to Ferris State University Saturday to take on third seed Michigan Technological University.
NMU featured four players with double-figure kills, led by redshirt sophomore Sarah Kuehn's (Green Bay, Wisc./De Pere) 13. Kuehn finished the match with a hitting percentage of .458. Senior Kayla Chosa (Wrightstown, Wis.) and freshman Leticia Antunes (Florianopolis, Brazil/ Colegio Ofelia Fonseca) both added 12 kills. Senior Madison Whitehead (Altoona, Wis.) chipped in with 11 kills at a .391 hitting percentage. Whitehead also moved into third place in NMU history in kills, totaling 1,308 in her career.
Senior Jami Hogeboom (Grand Haven, Mich.) finished the match with 51 assists and added three blocks.
Junior Autumn Monsma (Grand Haven, Mich.) posted three aces to lead the team and became the 27th player to reach 100 career aces.
Junior Rachel Braunschweig (Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley/Cape Fear CC) led the defense with 21 digs. Antunes aided the defense with 20 kills while Monsma added 12. At the net, Kuehn and Chosa tied with five total blocks. Whitehead notched three block assists.
The Wildcats overpowered the Panthers in the first two sets, winning 25-15 and 25-13. The third set was a back and forth affair, with both teams going on large runs. Down 9-6, NMU responded with a seven-point run to take a 16-9 lead. Davenport answered with a 10-1 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Wildcats came back to score five points to reclaim a 21-20 lead. The teams fought to a 23-23 lead but DU scored two straight points to win 25-23.
NMU captured the fourth set, jumping out 14-8 on their way to a 25-19 win to claim the match.
NMU improved to 21-7 with the win and looks to continue the season with a rematch against Michigan Tech Saturday. The winner will take on the winner of Ferris State and Wayne State University for the GLIAC Championship.
