Volleyball Defeats Northern Michigan 3-1

The Northwood University volleyball team moved into a tie for second place in the GLIAC with a 3-1 win over Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (November 9).  Set scores were 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23.

Northwood is now 20-7 overall, 13-3 in the GLIAC.  Northern Michigan is 20-9 overall, 13-3 in the GLIAC.  NU, NMU, Ferris State and Ashland are all now tied at 13-3 overall, trailing overall leader GVSU (15-1) with two matches remaining in the regular season.

A late push by Northwood in the opening set gave the Timberwolves a 1-0 lead.  NU trailed 15-14, but registered six of the next seven points to go up 20-16. The Wildcats got no closer than three points the rest of the way. Northwood was the better team offensively in the set, finishing with a .370 attack percentage (14-4-27) while NMU hit .094 (12-9-32).

The Timberwolves appeared ready to go up 2-0 in the second set, leading 18-13.  But Northern Michigan fought back, scoring six straight points to go up 19-18. The score was eventually was knotted at 23-23 when NMU scored the final two points to level the match 1-1.  The Wildcats hit .222 in the set (16-6-45) while Northwood finished at .263 (14-4-38).

The third set, was the opposite of the second, as it was Northern Michigan who appeared ready to take the lead with a 19-15 lead.  But that is when Northwood put together the most important run of the match, running off nine of the next 10 points to take control and earn a 2-1 lead. Both team's offenses struggled a bit in the set – Northwood hit .050 (9-7-40) while Northern Michigan finished at -.062 (8-11-48).

Northwood led the fourth set 20-12 when the Wildcats fought back once again. Even with the Wildcats going on a 6-1 run, the Timberwolves still eventually earned five match points.  NMU claimed four straight points to cut the lead down to 24-23.  Northwood finally closed the match out on a kill from Juliia Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine).

For the match, Northwood hit .230 (54-20-148) while Northern Michigan finished at .907 (47-31-165). The Timberwolves held a 69-60 edge in digs while NMU out-blocked Northwood 12-10.

Pakhomenko once again led the way for Northwood, finishing with 23 kills and a .388 attack percentage.  Cassandra Marsh (Maumee, Ohio) had 10 kills and a .348 attack percentage. Elizabeth Barker (Williamsburg, Ind./Northeastern) led the Timberwolves will 17 digs, while Jordan Dunn (Bowling Green, Ohio) had 45 assists and 14 digs.

Northwood, winners of 20 straight home matches overall, will host two matches next weekend to finish the regular season.  The Timberwolves will face Grand Valley State Friday night (November 15) in a key matchup that will get under way at 7 p.m.