KENOSHA, Wis. - The NMU volleyball team was on the wrong end of a tightly contested match on Saturday afternoon at Parkside, falling in four sets 23-25, 24-26, 25-18, and 18-25.
Northern Michigan held at least a three-point lead in each set but was unable to get to 25 without a Parkside rally.
Leading 12-9 in the first, Parkside rattled off five straight to go up 14-12. Despite getting as close as a point, the Wildcats were unable to get the lead back in the opening set. The same can be said for set two. Leading 23-19, NMU gave up four straight points to Parkside to even the score. The Rangers finished it off with the final three points in the set.
The Wildcats found success in the third by avoiding any significant run from Parkside, only letting the Rangers score back-to-back points four times and allowing zero runs of more than two en route to a 25-18 win.
Unfortunately for the Green and Gold, they were unable to carry that over to the fourth set. Up 14-11, the Rangers came back to tie the score at 15 a side. A few points later, Parkside put together the biggest stretch of the day with six consecutive points, leading 21-16. NMU was unable to counter, falling 25-18 in the final set and 3-1 in the match.
The loss drops the young Wildcat squad to 2-10 on the season and 1-3 in the GLIAC. Northern has lost 10 of 11 matches after the season-opening victory over Minnesota Crookston.
The Rangers improved to 8-4 and 3-1 in the conference, already matching their GLIAC win total from last season.
Evynn Layshock (12),
Meghan Meyer (11), and
McKenzie Gruner (10) all reached double-digit kills for NMU. Gruner added eight blocks (three solo, five assisted), doubling up her previous career-high of four.
Ava Irvin led the way in the match with 17 kills for Parkside. The setters shined, with
Lauren Van Remortel recording 45 assists and Karlee Lois registering 46 for the Rangers.
Up Next
It will be a quick turnaround for the Green and Gold, with a Tuesday trip to Michigan Tech on the docket. The first serve is set for 6 p.m. with Dave Ellis and Mark Evans calling the match on TV6.
