Volleyball Downs Tiffin & Clarion 3-1 - NU Now 5-0 Overall

OVERVIEW – TIFFIN/CLARION (CLARION INVITATIONAL)

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Tiffin Dragons 1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23) / Northwood 3, Clarion Golden Eagles 1 (25-19, 25-23, 12-25, 25-23)

RECORDS: Northwood 5-0/Tiffin 0-3/Clarion 3-3

LOCATION: Tippin Gymnasium – Clarion, Pa.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball improves to 5-0 on the season with a pair of wins, defeating Tiffin 3-1 before downing Clarion 3-1 Friday night (September 10).

INSIDE THE MATCH - TIFFIN

• The story of the opening set was the balanced, efficient Northwood offense.  After trailing 3-2, Northwood went on a run to go up 11-5. The Timberwolves maintained control the rest of the way to win 25-16. Northwood ended the opening set hitting an incredible .536, finishing with 15 kills and zero errors on 28 attempts. Tiffin ended at .091 (10-7-33).
• As efficient as the Timberwolves were in the opening set, Northwood's offense struggled in the second. The Dragons set the tone for the set right away, scoring three of the first four points and eight of the first 12. Tiffin eventually took the second set 25-18. After committing zero attack errors in the first set, the Timberwolves finished with 11 errors in the second to hit .000 (11-11-38). TU ended the second at .200 (10-4-30).
• The third set was tight, especially down the stretch. The lead was no bigger than two points from when NU led 15-13 until the end. The score was tied at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 when the Timberwolves scored the final two points to take a 2-1 match lead. Northwood bounced back with a solid offensive set in the third, hitting .297 (16-5-37). The Dragons hit .194 (12-6-31) in the third.
• Tiffin had the advantage near the midway point of the fourth set, leading 16-11. The lead was 18-14 when the Timberwolves went on a run, scoring six of the next eight points to level the score at 20-20. Like the third set, the score was tied at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 when NU scored the final two points to close out the victory. The Timberwolves relied heavily on their offensive attack to earn the set, scoring 21 of their 25 points on kills. Northwood finished the final set hitting .255 (21-7-55) compared to Tiffin at .297 (14-3-37).

MATCH STATS - TIFFIN

• HITTING: Tiffin .198 (46-20-131), Northwood .253 (63-23-158)
• DIGS: Tiffin 57, Northwood 60 (Lauren Bell – 19)
• BLOCKS: Tiffin 9, Northwood 3 (Olivia Ott – Two)
• ACES: Tiffin 2, Northwood 5 (Sophia Oakes – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - TIFFIN

• Maya Ferland: 16 kills, .484 attack percentage (16-1-31)
• Sydney Sweet: 14 kills, .560 attack percentage (14-0-25)
• Grace Rekeweg: 10 kills, 10 digs
• Olivia Ott: 15 kills, 11 digs, two blocks
• Macy Lintz: 52 assists, eight digs

INSIDE THE MATCH - CLARION

• Northwood scored four of the first five points in the opening set for the early advantage. The Golden Eagles came back to go up 8-7. NU used a key run at the end of the first set to take control, scoring six of seven points and seven of the final nine to win the set 25-19. The Timberwolves finished the opening set hitting .258 (12-4-31) while Clarion ended at .147 (12-7-34).
• Northwood trailed 8-5 in the second set before going on a 5-1 run to take a 10-9 lead. The key stretch came late after Clarion took a 22-18 lead. NU scored seven of the final eight points to win 25-23 to go up 2-0. The Timberwolves finished the second set hitting .194 (13-6-36) while the Golden Eagles ended at .182.
• After falling behind 2-0, Clarion responded by dominating the third set. The Golden Eagles led 5-1 and 9-4 early on. Clarion then finished the set by scoring six of the final seven points to win 25-12. NU struggled on offense in the third, hitting -.065 (6-8-31). Clarion jumped up to .400 (12-2-25).
• It appeared the match was going to go to a fifth set before a late Northwood surge gave the Timberwolves the win. The set was evenly played until late, when the Golden Eagles went up 23-20. That is when the Timberwolves took over, scoring the final five points to close out the victory. NU ended the final set hitting .167 (13-7-36), while Clarion hit .079 (12-9-38).

MATCH STATS - CLARION

• HITTING: Clarion .185 (48-24-130), Northwood .142 (44-25-134)
• DIGS: Clarion 55, Northwood 50 (Lauren Bell – 17)
• BLOCKS: Clarion 7, Northwood 7 (Ferland/Rekeweg – Three)
• ACES: Clarion 4, Northwood 8 (Ott/Bell – Three)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - CLARION

• Ott: 12 kills, three aces, two blocks
• Rekeweg: Six kills, three blocks
• Bell: 17 digs, six assists, three aces
• Macy Lintz: 34 assists, 11 digs

UP NEXT

• Northwood will face Gannon and Lock Haven Saturday (September 11) starting at 11 a.m.