Volleyball Takes Five Set Thriller Over Lake Erie

OVERVIEW – LAKE ERIE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Lake Erie Storm 1 (26-24, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 17-15)

RECORDS: Northwood 5-3, 1-0 G-MAC / Lake Erie 1-8, 0-1 G-MAC

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball earns a dramatic 3-2 win over Lake Erie to open Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play Friday night (September 15)

INSIDE THE MATCH

• Lake Erie started the match strong by scoring six of the first eight points. The Storm maintained their lead until late in the set – the Timberwolves did not tie it up until the score was 21-21. Lake Erie eventually earned a pair of set points at 24-22, only to see the Timberwolves finish with a run, putting up the final four points to take the first 26-24.
• The second set was even at 5-5 when the Storm went on top for good. Lake Erie put up six straight points for an 11-5 advantage. Northwood chipped away at the lead until tying the score at 15-15. With the score 17-17, the Storm came up with eight of the final nine points to level the match 1-1 with a 25-18 set two win.
• Northwood started the third set fast with three straight and four of the first five points. As the Storm did throughout the night, Lake Erie responded. They came back to tie the set at 6-6 and eventually went up 17-11. LEC eventually led 22-17 when Northwood rallied back with six straight points that put the Timberwolves up 23-22. The Storm responded one more time, scoring the final three points to win 25-23 and take a 2-1 lead for the match.
• The fourth set was evenly played throughout – at 21-21, the largest lead for either team was three points. Northwood responded to the moment by finishing with a push, putting up the final four points to win 25-21 to force a decisive fifth set.
• Lake Erie came out fast in the final set, scoring the first four points. Northwood put up seven of the next 10 points to tie the score at 10-10. The Storm had a total two match points down the stretch (14-12, 14-13, 15-14), but were unable to put away the victory. NU finished another set strong by scoring the final three points to win 17-15 and take the match 3-2.

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Lake Erie .190 (48-22-137), Northwood .147 (58-34-147)
• DIGS: Lake Erie 44, Northwood 60 (Megan Acs – 13)
• BLOCKS: Lake Erie 12, Northwood 5 (Sydney Hasenfratz – Five)
• ACES: Lake Erie 15, Northwood 14 (Renee Brines/Olivia Ott/Acs – Three)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Hasenfratz: 20 kills, five block, seven digs
• Caitlin Warnshuis: 12 kills
• Ott: Nine kills, 10 digs, three aces
• Kiana Martens: Nine kills
• Brines: 45 assists, three aces, 10 digs, two blocks

UP NEXT

• Northwood will host Ursuline Saturday (September 16). First serve is set for 5 p.m.