DULUTH, Minn. - The Northern Michigan volleyball team continued play on Friday at the Up North Tournament with a doubleheader. NMU fell in straight sets to No. 23 Central Washington 19-25, 12-25, and 17-25, and also fell to undefeated Southern New Hampshire in three sets, 17-25, 23-25, and 20-25.

NMU has now dropped six in a row and find themselves at 1-6 on the season. 

NMU struggled in the first match of the day. Where the young 'Cats have had a tough time finding consistency so far this season is hitting percentage and attack errors. Both proved detrimental againt against Central Washington, as NMU hit just .099% to CWU's .481. Northern also committed 18 attack errors in the match. CWU only recorded four. 

Rayne Thompson led the Wildcats in the match with 11 kills while CWU's Ashley Kaufman and Scottie Ellsworth matched that total on the opposite side. 

Fast forward to leg two of the doubleheader, NMU started strong against Southern New Hampshire, opening up a 9-7 lead in the first set. From there, Northern was on the wrong side of a 15-5 run and faced a 22-14 deficit that they couldn't overcome. Another eight attack errors and four service errors in the opening set doomed the Green and Gold. 

The Wildcats put up a great fight in set number two. Once trailing 16-9, NMU battled through to an 18-17 slim edge, but the Penmen of SNHU found key points late to squeak out a 25-23 victory in the second and 2-0 lead. 

Northern again stayed within striking distance in the final set, but the experienced Southern New Hampshire squad closed it out 25-20 for the sweep. 

Meghan Meyer posted 17 kills to lead NMU.

Up Next
Northern will wrap-up tournament play at the Up North Tournament with a matchup against host and nationally-ranked No. 7 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, September 9, at 3:30 p.m. ET.