Volleyball Goes 1-1 In Consolation Bracket At GLIAC Tournament

OVERVIEW – ASHLAND/PARKSIDE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Ashland Eagles 0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-22) / Parkside Rangers 3, Northwood 2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-9)

RECORDS: Northwood 9-6/Ashland 9-8/Parkside 7-11

LOCATION: Ryder Center – University Center, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball sees its turnaround season come to an end by going 1-1 in the consolation bracket of the GLIAC Tournament Saturday afternoon (April 10), defeating Ashland 3-0 before falling 3-2 against Parkside.

INSIDE THE MATCH - ASHLAND

• Northwood led the opening set 13-9 when Ashland made a push, scoring seven straight points to go up 16-13. NU responded with six of the next seven points to lead 19-17. The set was tied 23-23 when Northwood earned the final two points to win the opener 25-23. The Timberwolves finished the first set hitting .200, compared to Ashland at .167 (13-6-42).
• The Timberwolves started the second set strong, leading 7-3 after 10 points. With the NU lead standing at 10-7, the Eagles made another run, this time scoring seven straight points to go up 14-10. AU led 16-11 when Northwood responded with a run of their own, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 18-17 lead. The Timberwolves eventually had two set points (25-24, 26-25) before eventually winning 27-25 to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams hit well in the second – NU ended at .212 (18-7-52) while AU finished at .300 (16-4-40).
• The third set was evenly played throughout – after AU led 7-4 early, the next three point lead of the set came at the very end. Northwood trailed 21-20 and 22-21 when the Timberwolves finished strong, scoring the final four points to win the set 25-22 and the match 3-0. NU had its best hitting set of the match in the third, ended at .243 (14-5-37). Ashland fell back to .100 (12-8-40).

MATCH STATS - ASHLAND

• HITTING: Ashland .189 (49-19-139), Northwood .216 (49-19-139)
• DIGS: Ashland 59, Northwood 77 (Lauren Bell – 14)
• BLOCKS: Ashland 6, Northwood 11 (Mary Gallagher – seven)
• ACES: Ashland 4, Northwood 6 (Mackenzie Kepler – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - ASHLAND

• Mary Gallagher: 14 kills, seven blocks, .423 attack percentage (14-3-26)
• Grace Rekeweg: 10 kills, 13 digs, three blocks
• Macy Lintz: 38 assists, seven digs, two blocks

INSIDE THE MATCH - PARKSIDE

• Northwood led 9-6 early when the Rangers made the key push. UWP scored six straight points to go up 12-9. The Timberwolves eventually got back within one at 21-20, but the Rangers responded by scoring the final four points to win the opener 25-20. Parkside ended the opening set hitting .175 (10-3-40). Northwood finished the first at .114 (12-8-35).
• The teams reversed the roles from the opening set. Parkside led early and were still up 19-17 late when Northwood made a big run. NU put up seven straight points to lead 24-19 before winning 25-20. The Timberwolves jumped up to a .294 attack percentage in the second (13-3-34). The Rangers finished the second at .159 (15-8-44).
• Parkside wasted no time setting the tone for the third set, scoring 10 of the first 13 points. UWP led by as many as eight before the Timberwolves made a late run, scoring five of six point to get within three at 24-21. The Rangers then earned the final point to take a 2-1 lead in the contest. Both teams hit well in the third, especially the Rangers, who ended at .345 (14-4-29). Northwood ended up at .250 (11-4-28).
• The fourth set was very similar to the third, with the exception of the two teams flipping roles. It was Northwood who set the tone early in the fourth, scoring nine of the first 11 points. NU held a 23-17 lead when the Rangers rallied back, scoring six of the next event points to get within one at 24-23. NU then finished the set with the final point to force a deciding fifth set. The two teams ended with nearly identical hitting numbers in the fourth – Northwood finished at .219 (12-5-32) while Parkside ended at .212 (12-5-33).
• Parkside was the better team in the final set, taking over in the mid portion of the set. The Rangers led 6-5 when Parkside scored five of the next six points to go up 11-6. NU got back within three at 11-8 only to see the Rangers scored four of the final five points to take the final set 15-9. Parkside earned the win thanks to a cleaner fifth set that Northwood – the Rangers made just one attack error in the set while hitting .368 (8-1-19). The Timberwolves had five attack errors while hitting .130 (8-5-13).

MATCH STATS - PARKSIDE

• HITTING: Parkside .230 (59-21-165), Northwood .204 (56-25-152)
• DIGS: Parkside 60, Northwood 74 (Bell – 25)
• BLOCKS: Parkside 8, Northwood 7 (Maya Ferland – seven)
• ACES: Parkside 11, Northwood 13 (Venera Kadriu – Five)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - PARKSIDE

• Gallagher: 12 kills, two blocks, .429 attack percentage (12-3-21)
• Kadriu: 14 kills, five aces, 13 digs
• Rekeweg: 13 kills, two aces, 13 digs, two blocks
• Lintz: 53 assists, nine digs.

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Last season in a full year, Northwood went 5-22 overall. This season, in a shortened campaign, Northwood improved to 9-6 overall.

UP NEXT

• Northwood has now completed their spring season.