CHICAGO – It was a night of tricks and treats for the Northern Michigan Wildcats volleyball team, as the Green and Gold dropped the opening set but responded with three straight set wins to defeat the Roosevelt Lakers on Friday evening, 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16.
After relinquishing the opening frame, Northern bounced back with authority, finishing the match with a .268 attack percentage, the fourth-highest mark of the season. The Wildcats also fired a season-high 10 aces.
Kaysie Bakke and
Sydney Bartels each delivered three aces, leading the surge at the service line.
Offensively,
McKenzie Gruner paced the attack with 15 kills, while Bakke and
Madison York added 10 kills apiece. Setter
Allie Barlow orchestrated the offense with 38 assists, guiding the Wildcats' late-match run after facing a deficit.
Defensively, Northern also recorded seven team blocks and limited Roosevelt's hitting to .152 for the match. The Lakers were held to their lowest set-hitting percentage in the fourth, just .050 (6-5-20). Meanwhile, the Wildcats' blocks included four by Gruner and three by Bakke. The 'Cats also registered 10 team aces to Roosevelt's two.
"Really proud of our resilience tonight," said
Mike Lozier. "After a tough first set, we dug deep in sets two, three, and four. Kenzie (Gruner) and Emilia (Gulock) came up huge, especially in that final set. We continue to find ways to win as a team, now on to Parkside."
The victory moved Northern to 11-12 overall and 8-3 in GLIAC play, deadlocked with the Wayne State Warriors and Grand Valley State Lakers for second place behind conference leader Ferris State Bulldogs (10-1). The Wildcats have now won 10 of their last 13 matches.
How It Happened
The opening frame featured tight play early: the Wildcats led 9-8 after a Barlow ace, but the Lakers responded with a 4-0 run to take control at 12-9. Roosevelt later extended the gap to 17-12, forcing an NMU timeout. Northern briefly got back in front at 20-19, but the Lakers closed the set on a run of six of the last seven points to take it 25-21. NMU finished the set hitting just .121 while Roosevelt hit .303.
Northern regrouped to begin the second set. Kills from
Emilia Gulock and Gruner opened the frame, and the teams were tied at every point through 8-8. Then the Wildcats rattled off six straight, including two kills from Bartels and two aces from Bakke, to surge ahead 13-8. Roosevelt tried to respond, but another 4-0 run from NMU pushed the lead to 19-13. Northern closed the set with a 3-0 run and hit .321, while the Lakers hit just .130.
The third set began as tightly contested as the first two. Northern pulled ahead 10-9 after consecutive Bakke kills, then later led 14-11. The Lakers answered with five straight to make it 16-14. From there, the Wildcats called a timeout and regrouped as a pair of kills by Gruner sparked a 6-1 run to move NMU ahead 21-17. Roosevelt narrowed the margin late, but the Wildcats held off the push to take the set 25-22, hitting .242 compared to the Lakers' .083.
Gruner opened the fourth with three straight kills and later tallied her fifth of the set to give NMU a 13-11 lead at the halfway point. The Wildcats then pulled away as kills from Bakke, Barlow, and York extended the lead to 18-13, and the set reached match point at 24-16. A final ace by
Liesl Haugen sealed the 25-16 set and the match. The Wildcats exploded in the set with the best attacking discrepancy of the night, hitting .414 to RU's .050.
Up Next
The Wildcats will now travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to face the Parkside Rangers on the first day of November. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
