HAYWARD, Calif. – In the first-ever meeting against the Westmont College Warriors, the Northern Michigan volleyball team fell in straight sets, 25-27, 23-25, and 16-25, late on Friday night at the Cal State East Bay Invitational.
The Wildcats held late leads in each of the first two sets, but the Warriors controlled the bookends of all three sets to secure the sweep and move to 2-4 on the season. NMU dropped to 3-4.
Laynie Russell reached 10 kills for the second straight match to lead the Wildcats. Westmont was paced by Jordan Weston with 12.
How it Happened
Westmont jumped ahead 5-2 to start, but NMU answered with four straight, with two kills from Russell keeping it tight. Russell had NMU's first three kills of the match, though Westmont led 12-10 near the midpoint.
Trailing 18-15, NMU strung together five straight points to grab a 20-18 lead, but the Warriors responded by taking six of the next seven to reach set point at 24-21. NMU wasn't done, as a block and three more points forced extra points, but Westmont closed it out 27-25.
Westmont carried that momentum into the second, opening with a 3-0 lead.
Anna O'Keefe and
KC Fortune each added a pair of kills, but three service errors on six total serves left NMU trailing 8-6. Kills kept coming from every direction, as two from Russell and two more from McIntosh pushed NMU ahead 12-10, but a Westmont response forced an NMU timeout down 17-15.
Larsen Bonnstetter delivered a kill and a block to force a Westmont timeout of their own, with NMU up 21-20, but the Warriors closed on a 4-0 run to win 25-23 and take a 2-0 match lead.
The Warriors started strong again in the third, jumping ahead 6-1 and holding firm at 13-8 to force NMU's two timeouts by that point. The Wildcats clawed back within one at 14-13, but Westmont answered with six of the next seven to build a 20-14 lead and closed it out 25-16 to complete the sweep.
Up Next
Northern wraps up its West Coast trip against San Francisco State on Saturday, September 5, at 4 p.m. EST.
