Volleyball Falls In Five To Northern Michigan

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University volleyball team dropped a tough 3-2 match to Northern Michigan Friday night (September 12).

The contest was the GLIAC opener for both teams. NMU improves to 1-4 overall, 1-0 in the GLIAC. The Timberwolves fall to 3-2 overall, 0-1 in the GLIAC.

The opening set featured big runs on both sides. Northern Michigan led 7-6 early on, only to see Northwood run off 11 of the next 12 points to take a 17-8 lead. But the Wildcats fought back, scoring seven of eight points in one stretch to level the score 22-22. NU responded in the final points, however, winning the final three points to win 25-22 for the early lead.

Northwood appeared ready to run away with the second set, scoring nine of the first 10 points. But much like the first set, Northern Michigan responded with a run of their own to level the match at 15-15. From that point out, the second set was extremely tight. Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way. On their fourth set point, Northwood got a kill from Krysta Kramer (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) to close the set out 27-25.

NMU gained the lead in the third set, going up 18-13. The Wildcats eventually led 22-17, but that when Northwood fought back. The Timberwolves eventually leveled the score 23-23, only to see the Wildcats score three of the final four points to make the overall score 2-1.

The fourth set was filled with runs once again, as NMU scored nine of the first 12 points for the early advantage. But a 12-2 run by the Timberwolves suddenly put Northwood up 17-13.  However, NMU responded with six of the next eight points to level the score at 19.  Later on, Northwood had the stretch that proved to cost them the match. NU had four chances to earn the overall victory, leading 24-23, 25-24, 26-24 and 27-26, only to see NMU fight off all of those opportunities. Then on the Wildcats first set point, Northern Michigan got the kill and won the set 29-27 to force a fifth set.

NMU took the momentum they earned in winning the fourth and dominated the fifth. The Wildcats led 5-1 early and then scored eight of the final nine points to close out the match.

Overall, Northwood hit .137, finishing with 51 kills and 29 errors on 161 attempts. Northern Michigan finished at .116 overall (56-35-181). Both teams had 10 service aces, but Northwood had 17 errors compared to 10 for NMU. The Wildcats finished with a 14-13 edge in blocks for the match.

The Timberwolves finished the match with a balanced attack, with four players totaling more than eight kills. Freshman Allison Getty (Wayland, Mich.) led Northwood with 14 kills while registering nine digs. Chelsea Watson (Bowling Green, Ohio/Niagara U.) and Kramer each finished with nine kills, while Sydney Greulich (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's) had eight kills.  

Northwood will host Michigan Tech Saturday afternoon (September 13). First serve is set for 5 p.m.