Volleyball Posts 3-0 Road Sweep At Hillsdale

The Northwood University volleyball team picked up a key 3-0 road win over Hillsdale Tuesday night (November 5).  Set scores were 25-7, 25-23, 25-21.

The two teams entered play Tuesday night within one game of each other in the GLIAC standings.  Northwood now improves to 18-7 overall, 11-3 in the GLIAC.  Hillsdale stands at 14-11 overall, 9-5 in the GLIAC.

After trailing in the first set 3-1, Northwood completely dominated the action.  The Timberwolves out-scored the Chargers 24-4 the rest of the way, which included a 14-0 run.  NU also scored 15 of the final 16 points in the set.  Northwood hit a whopping .600 in the set (13-1-20) while Hillsdale finished at -.125 (6-10-32).

Hillsdale performed at a much higher level in the second set, eventually earning a 15-11 lead.  Northwood fought back to tie the score at 21, only to see the Chargers score two straight to close in on winning the set at 23-21.  Following a Northwood timeout, the Timberwolves bounced right back, taking the final four points of the set go lead 2-0.  NU got a pair of blocks on the final three points to take the set. Northwood hit .275 in the set (15-4-40), compared to Hillsdale at .196 (15-6-46).

The final set featured runs by both teams.  NU jumped out to early 4-1 and 9-5 leads, but a 6-1 spurt by the Chargers cut the Timberwolves advantage to 16-15. However, Northwood responded with four straight points of their own to go up 20-15.  Hillsdale got no closer than three points the rest of the way.  Neither team hit particularly well in the third – Northwood finished at .150 (13-7-40) compared to Hillsdale at .135 (11-6-37).

For the match, Northwood hit .290, totaling 41 kills and 12 errors on 100 attempts. Hillsdale ended the match at .087 (32-22-115).  Northwood also finished with advantages in aces (4-2), digs (53-40) and blocks (9-5).

Juiliia Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) led all players with 16 kills while finishing with a .314 attack percentage (16-5-35).  She also added seven digs and two blocks.  Northwood's other outside hitter, Krysta Kramer (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) also turned in a strong performance, totaling 10 kills, six digs, three blocks and a .333 attack percentage (10-3-21).

Northwood, who has played home just five times out of 25 matches, will now finish the regular season with four straight home matches. The Timberwolves will begin the home stand with a match Friday (November 8) against Michigan Tech.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.