Volleyball Claims 3-1 Road Win Over Michigan Tech

The Northwood University Volleyball team posted its sixth straight victory Friday night (November 2), defeating Michigan Tech 3-1.  Set scores were 25-17, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22.

Northwood improves to 21-5 overall, 15-0 in the GLIAC.  Michigan Tech falls to 9-19 overall, 4-11 in the GLIAC.

The Timberwolves came out strong in the opening set, hitting .326 (19-4-46) while holding the Huskies to a .070 mark (9-6-43).  Northwood scored seven of the first eight points of the set and never allowed Michigan Tech to get any closer than four points the rest of the way.

In the second set, the two defenses were the story.  Northwood hit just .135 (13-8-37), but held Michigan Tech to a .029 clip (9-8-34).  Much like the first set, the Timberwolves used a strong start to earn the win.  NU scored five of the first six and seven of the first 10 points overall.  Michigan Tech got it back to 9-8 at one point, but Northwood six straight points later on to put the set away.

MTU was a different team in the third set – after finishing with 18 kills combined in the first two sets, the Huskies registered 15 kills in the third alone.  It appeared Michigan Tech was on its way to an easy set win late, leading 24-18.  But Northwood rallied back, scoring four straight points to make it 24-23 before an attack error by the Timberwolves ended the rally.   Michigan Tech hit .233 in the set (13-5-43), compared to .149 for Northwood (14-7-47).  The set loss snapped a streak of 17 straight set wins for the Timberwolves.

The fourth and final set was close throughout – neither team led by more than three points the entire way.  With Northwood leading 22-21 late, the Timberwolves scored three of the final four points to earn the victory.  NU finished the fourth set at .170 (17-8-53), which MTU was at .143 (10-4-42).

For the match, Northwood finished at .197 (63-27-183), while Michigan Tech hit .123 (43-23-162).  Northwood finished with an 89-82 advantage in digs and a 9-5 edge in blocks.

Three players finished with double-figure kill totals, led by Juliaa Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine).  She finished with 19 kills, 17 digs and three blocks.  Tatjana Rajic (Belgrade, Serbia) added 17 kills and three blocks, while Zina Liubymova (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) added 11 kills, four aces and 21 digs.  Setter Jordan Dunn (Bowling Green, Ohio) finished with 60 assists and 19 digs.

Northwood can clinch at least a share of the GLIAC Championship Saturday afternoon (November 3) at Northern Michigan.  First serve is set for 4 p.m.