MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Northern Michigan University volleyball team claimed its third win in a row as the team took down Saginaw Valley State 3-1 on Saturday in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match.

The Wildcats and Cardinals kept things close in first set action. With the game tied 11-11, Jacqueline Smith earned a kill to give NMU the first lead of the set. Neither team was able to claim a lead larger than two until the final three points of the set when NMU was able to take the win after a bad set from SVSU, 25-23. 

Set two gave the Wildcats some more breathing room. Down by one, four straight kills put NMU in the lead. Hailey Wickstrom contributed two back-to-back kills followed by the same from Meghan Meyer. SVSU was unable to take the lead back after the offensive attack and the Wildcats took set two 25-23.

The third set was unkind to NMU for the second match in a row. Three straight points for the Cardinals put the Wildcats behind early. A 3-3 tie after a Lauren Van Remortel assisted Wickstrom kill was as close as NMU was able to get. SVSU earned a 25-20 win to bring the match to 2-1.

Momentum was on the side of the Cardinals to start the fourth set, but the Wildcats fought back. After a bad set by SVSU, NMU took a 4-3 lead. 

The rest of the fourth was all about the Wildcats making runs. The most impressive one was the 3-0 stretch to claim the game where kills from Van Remortel, Evynn Layshock, and Ania Hyatt gave NMU the 25-19 set win and the 3-1 match win.

Both Smith and Wickstrom led the Wildcats with a match-high of 15 kills each. Smith also had a team-high 14 digs on the day.

Van Remortel and Lauren Caprini each contributed three service aces for NMU in the match. 

Meyer was impressive at the net for the Wildcats as she earned six total blocks. Two of her blocks were solo while the rest were assisted.

NMU moves to 3-1 in the GLIAC and overall after the win. The Cardinals are now 0-4 overall and in GLIAC action. The Wildcats begin a four-game homestand on Friday, March 5 when they host Parkside at 7 p.m.