INDIANAPOLIS, IND. –  Northern Michigan University Volleyball took on the University of Southern Indiana for their second match of the Midwest Region Conference Crossover and came away with a 3-1 victory over the Eagles. Senior Lynzi Svoboda (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis Southwest) became the 16th player in NMU Volleyball history to achieve 1,000 assists in a career.

SET SCORES

In the first set, the Wildcats faced a 23-19 deficit, but a five point rally put NMU on top 24-23 before an ace from senior Rachel Braunschweig (Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley) clinched a 25-23 victory to win the opener for NMU.

The Eagles rebounded in the second set and won 25-20, but the Wildcats roared back in set three, scoring the first eight points and overpowered USI to capture the 25-14 victory. 

NMU continued their strong showing into the fourth set as they eventually pulled away to a 25-17 victory to win the match 3-1.

ACHIEVING 1000

Yesterday, senior Autumn Monsma (Grand Haven, Mich.) became the 17th player in program history to achieve 1,000 digs in her career. In today's match, Svoboda also posted a career milestone as she tallied 45 assists and reached 1,000 assists in her career to become the 16th player to achieve the 1,000 assist milestone.

Svoboda also notched 10 digs on the day and tied Monsma for second on the team. Offensively, Monsma paced the Wildcat offense with a career-high 23 kills in the match and hit .388.

AIDING THE ATTACK

Senior Maggie Liebeck (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) posted 12 kills on the day while junior Sarah Kuehn (Green Bay, Wis./De Pere) notched nine. Senior Jessica Skonning (Lagrange, Ill./Lyons Township) added seven to the offensive attack.

COMING UP ACES

Contributing to the offense was nine aces off NMU serves. Freshman Alli Yacko (Oak Lawn, Ill.) set a career-high with five aces. Braunschweig finished with two in the match and junior Gabriela Martinez (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista/Rio Piedras) and freshman Lizzy Stark (Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) both had one.

THE DEFENSE

Braunschweig led the defense with a team-best 16 digs. After Svoboda and Monsma's 10 digs, Yacko chipped in to the effort with nine digs. Liebeck and Kuehn protected the net and both had two blocks each.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats improve to 13-8 on the season with USI moving to 8-14. NMU will now take a quick break before taking on Missouri University of Science & Technology at 4 p.m. to conclude the Midwest Region Conference Crossover.