KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Northern Michigan Volleyball team earned a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Parkside Rangers Friday in the regular season finale on Friday night, earning at least a top-four seed in the GLIAC Tournament. The final opponent will be determined after matches conclude on Saturday.
"Tremendously proud of this team tonight!" said associate head coach
Kamryn Duffield. "Not only did we execute at a high level, but through immense pressure put on us by Parkside. Our block and defense did their job and gave us the opportunity to run our offense at a high level. We've put ourselves in a great position going into the GLIAC playoffs."
The Wildcats fell in the opening set 20-25 before responding in the second set, winning 25-18. The Rangers controlled most of set three, and despite a late comeback attempt from the 'Cats, they would drop the third set 23-25. Northern would go on to win the fourth set 25-22. Then, in set five, the 'Cats scratched and clawed their way back from down 11-14 to take the set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2.
Northern hit .245 on the match, and were paced by
Kaylie McIntosh with 20 kills. Behind her was
KC Fortune with 13 and
Anna O'Keefe with 12. Parkside's Avary Polavin led the Rangers with 16 kills.
Olivia Ziemer and
Sydney Bartels each recorded 3 aces for Northern, and
Allie Barlow led the Wildcats with 48 assists.
Lauren Cardwell had a team-high 14 digs.
Northern finishes its season 13-14 overall and 9-7 in the GLIAC, while Parkside fell to 15-11 overall and 7-8 in league play, with one regular season game remaining on its schedule.
How It Happened
Anna O'Keefe got things rolling in the first set, recording a kill on the opening point. Parkside built a three-point advantage before back-to-back blocks from
Larsen Bonnstetter and
Laynie Russell made the score 7-8. Later in the set, Northern found themselves down 11-14, before scoring four consecutive points, capped by a Bartels kill. Another O'Keefe kill gave NMU a 19-17 advantage that led to a Parkside timeout.
Out of the huddle, Parkside scored seven points in a row, forcing Northern to burn both timeouts. After recording a service error on set point one, a sequential Ranger kill would cause the 'Cats to drop the first set 20-25.
The second set started off with a booming Fortune kill. After a long stretch of back-and-forth, five straight points gave the 'Cats a 12-9 advantage, forcing a Parkside timeout. Later in the set, Northern extended its lead to five, and with the score 17-12, Parkside would call its second timeout.
A monstrous kill from
Kaylie McIntosh made the score 19-14 in favor of the Green and Gold, and just a few points later an
Olivia Ziemer ace gave Northern a 22-15 lead. With the score 24-18, Bonstteter denied the Parkside attack at the net, earning the set-winning block.
With things knotted 1-1, the third started with the two squads trading points all the way up to 7-7. A 4-0 run from Parkside led to Northern taking its first timeout of the set. McIntosh would record a kill out of the huddle, but Parkside kept things rolling, and the 'Cats deficit grew to seven. After the teams exchanged service errors, another Ziemer ace would make the score 12-16.
Shortly after, a three-point run from Northern made the score 15-17, causing Parkside to call a timeout. Later in the set, down 19-23, Coach Lozier took his second timeout. Down 23-24, Northern failed to return a Ranger attack, dropping the third set.
O'Keefe earned another set-opening kill, putting Northern up 1-0 to start the fourth set. A Fortune kill would be challenged and overturned, making the score 3-3. A giant block from McIntosh was followed by senior
Allie Barlow's 50th ace of the season, giving Northern a 6-5 advantage. Midway through the set, McIntosh placed an attack perfectly on the backline, making the score 14-13 in favor of the 'Cats.
Back-to-back aces from
Sydney Bartels upped Northern's advantage to four, with a Parkside timeout in between. With Northern in front 22-18, a Fortune kill would lead to the second Rangers timeout. Then, Parkside scored three in a row, resulting in a timeout from the 'Cats. A few points later, McIntosh delivered yet another kill to give NMU the 25-22 victory, evening the match.
The 'Cats got out to an early 4-2 advantage to start the fifth set. Northern would find themselves down 5-8 shortly after, leading to its first timeout. With the score knotted 10-10, Parkside took its first timeout of the fifth, and came out of the huddle on a 4-1 run. Down 11-14, Northern took its final timeout.
On set point one, Russell recorded a kill, making things 12-14. On the succeeding set point, the Rangers attack went wide. Parkside unsuccessfully challenged the call. The third set point led to a McIntosh kill evening the final set at 14-all. The squads traded points before the Rangers sent another attack out of bounds. On set point Northern, Russell and O'Keefe combined for the match-winning block, and the 'Cats took the final set 17-15.
Up Next
With the regular season coming to a close, Northern now looks forward to the GLIAC tournament. After tonight's win, the 'Cats are 9-7 in the conference, which places them in fourth place. If every team's season was over today, NMU would hold the four seed in the tournament, meaning a home match against Davenport would be on the horizon. However, there are still matches to be played around the GLIAC this weekend. Final seedings and matchups for the tournament will not be set until Sunday night. Regardless of what happens, the 'Cats have clinched the postseason, and the pursuit of their first GLIAC championship since 2021 will begin in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 11th. Updates can be found at nmuwildcats.com.
