MARQUETTE, Mich. - It was quite the home opener for the Northern Michigan volleyball team on Friday night, as the Wildcats (2-9, 1-2) rallied to hand the Parkside Rangers (9-1, 2-1) their first loss of the season, 26-24, 17-25, 13-25, 25-21, 15-7. 

After Northern took the opening set in thrilling fashion 26-24, Parkside responded with decisive wins in the second and third. Trailing two sets to one, Northern persevered as it did throughout the night. 

Perhaps their biggest test came in the fifth, when they trailed 6-3 in the race to 15. From that point, the 'Cats clawed out of the hole and took over the rest of the way with a remarkable 9-0 run, highlighted by six emphatic kills. NMU scored 12 of the final 13 points overall to get Vandament loud and rocking by the time the final point was secured. 

"I am insanely proud of the team for their resilience tonight," said assistant coach Kamryn Duffield. "This was an all-around gritty victory. Both of our middles had an awesome performance and our block and defense was extremely disciplined which led us to the win. We are so happy to get a win in our first match in Vandament this year. Shoutout to all of our supporters who came out tonight!"

Northern used a balanced offensive display with four hitters reaching double-digit kills, the first time since their season-opening win over Wheeling. Senior captain McKenzie Gruner led the way with 13 kills, Madison York added another 11, and Emilia Gulock and Sydney Bartels each chipped in 10. Both teams totaled 52 kills, while NMU hit .135 on the night.

The 'Cats edged Parkside at the net with a 9-8 blocks advantage. Gulock led the team with three while Kaylie McIntosh added two. Liesl Haugen recorded 25 of NMU's season-best 91 kills and Allie Barlow handed out 39 assists. The Rangers were led by Sam Fisch with 18 kills and Natalie Harris with five aces and 26 digs. 

Now in his 9th season, Mike Lozier improved to 7-2 in the home opener as NMU's head coach.


How it Happened
York opened up the scoring for Northern with the first home kill of the season. The match saw great back-and-forth action early on, as the 'Cats rattled off a small 3-0 run to lead 8-6. Parkside bounced back with a 5-1 run to lead by a pair, but NMU answered right back with six straight, capped by a York and Gulock block, to lead 15-11. 

Out of a timeout, the Rangers responded with six straight to regain its lead, but the Wildcats pounced again to hold a 22-20 edge late in the opener. Facing a 24-23 deficit, Gulock delivered three straight kills to secure the 26-24 victory for NMU, snapping a 26-set losing streak. In the highly-competitive set, NMU hit .234 to UWP's .115 and recorded 15 kills. 

The Rangers opened the second with a 4-0 lead and pushed that advantage out to 11-4 before an NMU timeout. Northern got back in it with a 4-0 run that saw a pair of big blocks, closing the gap to 13-10. However, the Rangers scored five straight and won the second set 25-17 off the back of four aces. 

Parkside got off to another strong start in the third, quickly leading 6-0 with three aces from libero Natalie Harris. For the second straight set, NMU called timeout trailing 11-4. Another Parkside run built a double-digit lead and they finished the third set 25-13, out-hitting NMU .300 to -.032 with four more aces. 

With their backs up against the wall, Northern came out firing in the fourth to lead 5-2. Impressive back-and-forth action that mirrored the opening set led to the fourth being tied 11-11. Soon after, back-to-back kills from Gruner pushed NMU in front 19-14. Leading 22-16, UWP answered with five straight, but NMU persevered with the final three points, including Barlow's pinpoint ace to the corner for the final point, winning the fourth 25-21. NMU recorded 12 kills and three aces in the set. 

The Rangers quickly led 5-1 in the decisive final set. Trailing 6-3 three points later, the 'Cats rattled off nine straight points, the biggest run of the night, to swing the momentum, ignite the home crowd, and ride the energy to the finish. NMU dominated the final set 15-7 with 10 kills on a .409 attack percentage. 


Up Next
The Wildcats return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. to take on the Roosevelt Lakers at Vandament Arena.