MIDLAND, Mich. --  Northern Michigan University Volleyball captured a 3-0 victory over Northwood University Saturday afternoon for their first sweep of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season and second this year.

SET SCORES

In the first set, the Wildcats jumped out to a 13-7 advantage but Northwood answered and eventually took a 24-20 lead. NMU then closed out the match on a 7-1 run to win the first set.  Sophomore Lizzy Stark (Minneapolis, Minn.) started the run with a kill from freshman Lauren Van Remortel (Carmel, Ind.). A bad set and attack error by NU, then back to back kills from senior Sarah Kuehn (Green Bay, Wis.) gave NMU a 25-24 lead.

The Timberwolves were able to tie the game at 25-25. An attack error from NU was followed by an ace from sophomore Alli Yacko (Oak Lawn, Mich.) to give the Wildcats the first set win.

The second set was also close with the largest lead being a 5-2 advantage for NMU. The teams fought to a 22-22 tie, which sophomore Hailey Wickstrom (Calumet, Mich.) ended with a kill to make it a 23-22 NMU lead. An attack error from NU made it 24-22, but a kill by the Timberwolves made it 24-23. Wickstrom then ended the set with a kill to make it 25-23 and a 2-0 match lead for NMU.

The Wildcats closed out the match with a third set win for the sweep. With the score tied at 14-14, NMU went on a 6-1 run to claim a 20-15 lead. The hosts closed the lead to 20-17 before Stark had a kill. After a kill and service error by Northwood, the score was 22-18. Wickstrom made it 23-18 with a kill, but the Timberwolves rallied to make it 23-22.

After a service error by NU made it 24-22, Wickstrom got the match-winning kill from Van Remortel, making it 25-22 for the 3-0 sweep.

STAT LEADERS

Van Remortel finished the day with 42 assists. Stark notched a team-best 14 kills while Kuehn added 12 and Wickstrom had 10.

Sophomore Lauren Caprini (St. Charles, Ill.) notched two aces to lead the team as NMU tallied four total.

Defensively, Yacko and sophomore Madeline Crowley (Green Bay, Wis.) led the way with 14 digs each. Caprini posted 11.

At the net, Kuehn finished with four total blocks. Wickstrom, Van Remortel and freshman Abigail Durecki (South Lyon, Mich.) each had two blocks.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats improve to 6-9 on the season, 3-4 in the GLIAC while Northwood falls to 4-10, 4-3 in the league.  NMU will now return to Vandament Arena and will take on Ashland University at 4:30 p.m. Friday for more GLIAC play.