HOUGHTON, Mich. - The Northern Michigan volleyball team traveled to Houghton on Tuesday for a rivalry matchup with Michigan Tech, handling the Huskies and the hostile environment from start to finish for a 3-0 sweep with set scores of 27-25, 26-24, and 25-19. 

With the win, the Wildcats improve 3-10 on the season and pull even with the Huskies in the GLIAC with a  2-3 record. 

Facing an 11-4 deficit early on in the opening set, consecutive kills by Meghan Meyer opened to door for the Wildcats. Soon after, NMU went on the biggest run of the set to even the first set score at 15's. Each team was able to get a small edge of two points with the set winding down, but the rivalry showed with the opponent quickly erasing any deficit. After NMU earned the first setpoint, the Huskies countered with a setpoint of their own. Trailing 25-24, the Wildcats slammed the door on the Huskies with the final three points on a kill from McKenzie Gruner, an ace from Lauren Van Remortel, and a Tech error. 

The Wildcats commanded the large majority of set two, doubling up the Huskies with a 22-11 score. The Huskies managed to rally back, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to even the score at 24 each. For the second straight set, extra points were needed to determine a victor. The Green and Gold weathered the storm, scoring the final two points on a pair of hard-hit strikes from Jacqueline Smith to win the set 26-24.

The final set played a much more traditional role of back-and-forth action. The first multi-point lead came with NMU up 8-6 and the first three-point lead also went in favor of the Wildcats, 13-10. Up 18-14 late, the Huskies showed a brief view of a comeback again pulling the deficit to one, but NMU sent the Huskies contingent home with six of the final seven points to win 25-19, the final touch on a sweep in Houghton. 

Meghan Meyer and Jacqueline Smith each shined for Northern, recording 11 kills each. Meyer was an unstoppable force at the net, hitting an impressive .429. Lauren Van Remortel showed out by setting up her teammates, recording an assist on nearly half of NMU's points. She totaled 34 assists in the match (11.33 assists/set),  a truly impressive mark for three sets. 

As a team, Northern hit .167, the second best collective output so far this season. 


Up Next
The Wildcats will be home in Vandament Arena this weekend, as they'll host Ferris State on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Lake Superior State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.