Volleyball Earns 3-2 Win Over Michigan Tech

The Northwood University volleyball team rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 win over Michigan Tech Friday night (November 8).  Set scores were 21-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23, 15-9.

Northwood, which has now won 19 straight home matches, improves to 19-7 overall, 12-3 in the GLIAC. Michigan Tech falls to 9-18 overall, 5-10 in the GLIAC.

MTU was the better team in the first two sets, finding a way to take a 2-0 lead.  The Timberwolves nearly rallied by to take the second set, but the Huskies claimed the final two points to take the lead to the break.

Northwood began its comeback in the third set thanks to an efficient offense.  NU hit .455 in the set, finishing with 16 kills and just one error on 33 attempts.  The Timberwolves' outside hitters Krysta Kramer (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) and Juliia Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) combined to register 11 kills and zero errors in 21 swings in the third.

The fourth set was extremely tight throughout, as neither team led by more than two points.  The set featured 13 ties and seven lead changes. MTU finished with a 15-14 advantage in kills in the frame, but Northwood finished with six fewer attack errors (9-3).

Senior setter Jordan Dunn (Bowling Green, Ohio) started the fifth and final set with a pair of aces and Northwood would never trail the rest of the way. NU scored seven of the first 10 points of the fifth and led by as many as six.  Both teams had six kills and three aces in the set, but Northwood's 4-0 advantage in aces proved to be key.

For the match, Northwood hit .257 (60-15-175) while Michigan Tech finished at .154 (62-32-195). Both teams served well in the match – MTU finished with 12 aces and seven errors while Northwood had 10 aces and eight errors.  Northwood held a big edge in blocks, finishing with a 12-4 advantage. Both teams finished with 88 digs overall.

The duo of Pakhomenko and Kramer led the way for Northwood, each finishing with 22 kills. Pakhomenko added four aces, 21 digs and four blocks, while Kramer had 14 digs and two blocks. Elizabeth Barker (Williamsburg, Ind. /Northeastern) added a match-high 24 digs, while Dunn had 41 assists and 15 digs.  Dunn reached the 1,000 assist mark for the season in the match.

Northwood will host Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (November 9). Match time is set for 4 p.m.