MARQUETTE, Mich. – The postseason has arrived, and the Northern Michigan volleyball team has earned the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) No. 3 seed. Northern will host the No. 6 Parkside Rangers on Wednesday, November 19, at 6 p.m.
The Wildcats enter the postseason winners of four straight, finishing with a conference record of 12-4. NMU climbed up one spot in the final weekend. The Rangers are trending in the opposite direction, dropping from No. 5 to No. 6 after a pair of losses to end the regular season. The Wildcats are 8-1 at home, while the Rangers are 3-6 on the road. The teams split this season, with the home team victorious in each.
It is the second straight season the Wildcats will host the Rangers to open the conference tournament.
Wednesday's match will be streamed on FloCollege and can be listened to live on 100.3 The Point, with Brice Burge on the call.
From the Coach
"We tend to play well in front of our crowd and there are so many advantages we need to use help us and give the fans one more match here in Vandament."
About the Wildcats
Winners of four straight, the Wildcats closed the regular season with a 12-4 record in the GLIAC to earn the No. 3 seed. Last weekend, Northern defeated Lake Superior State 3-0 and Saginaw Valley State 3-1.
Senior
McKenzie Gruner was named the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week after posting 33 kills, a .466 attack percentage, seven blocks, six digs, and an ace this past weekend. Through the regular season, she leads the team with 331 kills this season and she has reached 12+ in each of the past eight matches, including a career-best 24-kill outing vs. Michigan Tech on Oct. 28. Her .360 attack percentage (3rd) and 3.56 kills/set (5th) in GLIAC matches both rank near the top of the conference leaderboard.
Junior libero
Liesl Haugen has made her case for GLIAC defensive player of the year. She has two matches with 38 digs, the two highest totals in the conference this season. The Maple Grove, Minnesota, native has recorded 20+ digs in 11 of 23 matches this season, and her pair of 38-dig matches both rank in the top-20 individual performances in Division II this season. She finished second in the GLIAC with 4.98 digs/set in conference play.
The Wildcats average 12.4 kills per set on a .194 attack percentage this season. They are also averaging 11.7 assists, 16.2 digs, and 1.7 blocks each set.
About Parkside
Parkside opened the season on a nine-match winning streak, dropped six of its next seven, bounced back with eight straight wins, and then dropped the final two last weekend to finish the regular season 18-8, 9-7.The team is led by last season's Defensive Player of the Year Natalie Harris, who tops the GLIAC with 5.31 digs per set, while Ava Irvin (3.53) and Sam Fisch (3.29) rank third and fifth, respectively, in kills per set.
