Volleyball Earns 3-2 Win At Purdue Northwest

OVERVIEW – PURDUE NORTHWEST

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Purdue Northwest Pride 2 (17-25, 25-13, 10-25, 25-16, 16-14)

RECORDS: Northwood (8-4, 8-4 GLIAC), Purdue Northwest (0-10, 0-10 GLIAC)

LOCATION: John Friend Court – Hammond, Ind.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball earns hard-fought 3-2 win at Purdue Northwest Saturday afternoon (March 27).

INSIDE THE MATCH

• Purdue Northwest showed they were ready to play right from the start, scoring five of the first six points and 10 of the first 14 overall. The Pride kept control throughout the first set, not allowing Northwood to get any closer than five points the rest of the way in a 25-17 PNW win. Northwood struggled offensively in the opening set, hitting just .027 overall (10-9-37). Purdue Northwest finished at .179 (7-8-34).
• In what became a theme for the opening four sets, things completely turned towards Northwood in the second from the start, as the Timberwolves scored seven of the first eight points overall. The Pride got no closer than five points the rest of the set, which was eventually won by the Timberwolves 25-13. Northwood jumped up to a .238 attack percentage (9-4-21) while PNW fell back to -.029 (7-8-34).
• Things flipped back to Purdue Northwest in a big way in the third, as the Pride scored 11 of the first 12 points to take control early. Seven points is as close as the Timberwolves would get the rest of the way as PNW took the set 25-10.  Northwood finished the third set hitting .000 (8-8-38) while the Pride had their best hitting set of the match, finishing at .360 (10-1-25).
• The fourth set appeared that it would be the first close set of the contest, as Northwood led 9-8 early. But the Timberwolves finished the set with a big run, scoring 10 of the final 13 points to level the match after a 25-16 win. NU's offense was strong in the fourth, hitting .390 (19-3-41). PNW also had a solid set on offense, finishing at .231 (12-3-39).
• After the opening four sets were split in lopsided fashion, the final set was the closest of the match. NU led 7-4 when the Pride registered six of the next seven points to go up 10-8. Northwood responded with five of the next six points to lead 13-11. But PNW would not go away, eventually tying the score at 13-13 and 14-14. NU finished off the match by scoring the final two points to win the set 16-14 and the match 3-2. Northwood's offense was strong again in the third, hitting .364). PNW finished the final set at .167 (9-5-24).

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Purdue Northwest .173 (48-22-150), Northwood .189 (56-26-159)
• DIGS: Purdue Northwest 67, Northwood 77 (Megan Acs – 18)
• BLOCKS: Purdue Northwest 13, Northwood 3 (Maya Ferland – Three)
• ACES: Purdue Northwest 9, Northwood 3 (Mackenzie Kepler – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Mackenzie Kepler: 13 kills,12 digs, two aces
• Mary Gallagher: 11 kills, .400 attack percentage (11-3-20)
• Venera Kadriu: 11 kills, 13 digs
• Kiana Martens: Eight kills, two blocks
• Macy Lintz: 45 assists, 12 digs

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood was without Grace Rekeweg for the match, who entered the day leading the team in kills (119) and points (135).

UP NEXT

• Northwood was scheduled to play against Lake Superior State next weekend, but those matches will not be played due to COVID-19 issues in the LSSU program. NU will next play in the GLIAC Tournament starting April 9.