OWENSBORO, KY. - The Northern Michigan University Volleyball team finished up the Kentucky Wesleyan Tournament with a matchup against William Jewell College.

The Wildcats were able to come out on top 3-2 over the Cardinals.  


FIRST SET

William Jewell got the scoring started with a point from an attack error from the Wildcats. The Wildcats answered right back with a kill from Meghan Meyer.  

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 14-3 lead after a slow start by the Wildcats. The Wildcats ended the Cardinal run with a kill by Rayne Thompson, assisted by Lauren Van Remortel.  

The Wildcats then went on a run of their own led by Jacqueline Smith, who had two kills, and Meghan Meyer who also had a kill. This brought the score up to 16-7 in favor of the Cardinals.  
The Cardinals went on an 8-6 run to close out the first set. Lizzy Stark and Jacqueline Smith had two kills each for the Wildcats. 

The Cardinals took the first set 25-15.


SECOND SET

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the second set. Lizzy Stark added two kills and Jacqueline Smith added one kill during that stretch.  

The Cardinals climbed right back in it with a 7-1 run to even the score at 9 before the Wildcats called a timeout.  

Coming out of the timeout both teams went back and forth for most of the set until a run by the Cardinals closed out the second set.  

Lizzy Stark continued her impressive day with four kills during the final stretch of the second set. Meghan Meyer and Jacqueline Smith were responsible for kills as well.  

Their efforts weren't enough as the Cardinals won set two 25-19.


THIRD SET

After dropping the first two sets, the Wildcats came out firing as Rayne Thompson had a kill, and Lizzy Stark followed that up with a kill of her own. Lauren Van Remortel assisted on both kills.  

After jumping out to an early lead, the Cardinals made a comeback to tie the set at 8.  

Jacqueline Smith gave the lead back to the Wildcats with a kill from Lauren Van Remortel.  

Two attack errors by the Wildcats and a kill for the Cardinals gave them a 12-9 lead. Two more attack errors gave the Cardinals a 14-9 lead.

A Wildcat run led by Angelina Negron, who had a kill, and a service ace brought them to within one point.  

Back-to-back kills by Rayne Thompson and Lizzy Stark to tie the set at 16 forced the Cardinals to use a timeout.   

Both teams went back and forth for the next couple of points to bring the score to 21-20 in favor of the Wildcats.  

The Wildcats closed out the third set with four straight points, a service ace by Lauren Van Remortel, a kill by Alli Yacko, and a kill by Jacqueline Smith.

The Wildcats took the third set 25-20. 


FOURTH SET

Winning a crucial third set, the Wildcats came into a must-win fourth set.

The Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders. They jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the set. The Cardinals were forced to call a timeout.

Jacqueline Smith had back-to-back kills to keep the Wildcats in the lead 12-7.

The Wildcats continued a very impressive set on a service ace by Jacqueline Smith and a kill by Lizzy Stark to give them an 18-10 lead.  

The Wildcats were able to close out the set 25-14 and force a fifth set.  


FIFTH SET

Jacqueline Smith started the fifth set with back-to-back kills from Lauren Van Remortel.  

Jacqueline Smith added two more kills on a streak of four points in a row by the Wildcats. The Cardinals called a timeout as the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-1 lead.  

Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats added another point on a kill from Meghan Meyer. Jacqueline Smith assisted on the kill.

The Wildcats would continue to extend their lead, and would eventually take the fifth and final set 15-6, taking the game 3 sets to 2.    


STATS LEADERS

Jacqueline Smith and Lizzy Stark led the way for the Wildcats with 20 kills each.

Meghan Meyer added 12 kills of her own.

Lauren Van Remortel finished with 46 assists.

Jacqueline Smith had 3 service aces.

Alli Yacko finished with 18 digs.


UP NEXT

The Wildcats will return home to take on the Grand Valley State Lakers in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) matchup at 7 p.m in Vandament Arena.