The NMU Women’s Volleyball team continues down the road of success as they claimed two more victories last weekend. Their season record moves to 12-0 (8-0 GLIAC), and they remain at the top of the GLIAC North.
The first opponent the Wildcats met was the Northwood Timberwolves. The Wildcats struggled in their first set but slowly clawed their way back to win the set 25-23. The Wildcats then made quick work of the second set to win it by a 25-14 and finish the third set off with an exciting 28-26 finish and ending the match in a 3-0 victory.
Team captain Katie Twardzik said that the team had to fight for every point, but in the end, the team knew what had to be done in order to get another victory.
“We struggled in the first set, and things were going slow at first,” Twardzik said. “But we started serving tougher and started to focus on playing consistently, and once we got a feel for Northwood’s offense we were able to get the blocks we needed to and just win the match.”
Team captain Sami Vierk agreed that the first set was tough, but said in the end the team’s effort got them through.
“We started picking up the pace with our serving and being able to distribute evenly amongst our team was what helped us out in the long run,” Vierk said.
The Wildcats also had a bit of rowdiness on their side with the new Cat Attack Zone, which features the most loyal and vocal fans.
Head coach Dominic Yoder said that he is thrilled that the Cat Attack Zone was such a big success and would like to see an even bigger turnout for future games.
“The fans definitely know how to push an opposing team to their limits, and it’s great that we can get the crowd behind us in games,” Yoder said. “As long as everyone keeps it respectful and clean, we want more noise at our games.”
With a rowdy crowd and another win under their belts, the Wildcats moved on to their final opponent for the weekend, the Lake Superior State Lakers.
The Wildcats started out strong as they won the first set 25-15. The Lakers quickly retaliated as they fought for a hard win in the second set 23-25. But the ’Cats remained focused and determined as they answered right back with 25-18 in the third set and finished strong in the fourth set with a 25-10 to win the match 3-1.
Between both games, Sami Vierk led in kills, having 28 between both games and 38 total attacks (TA). Ana Lopes had a total of 12 kills in both games and over 40 TA and Emma Wolfe with a total of 20 kills and 41 TA.
This upcoming weekend, the Wildcats prepare for an intense rematch against rivals Michigan Tech. The Huskies are out for revenge as a result of their last meeting when the ’Cats defeated them on their home court 3-1.
The Wildcats will host the Huskies on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Vandament Arena.
Yoder said that this will be a very intense match-up and there are many key goals the team needs to focus on in order to ensure victory.
“It was a great feeling to beat Tech in their house,” Yoder said. “This time around, though, they will be out for blood, and we really need to focus on aggressive serving, stopping their middle attack and left-side, and our serve reception. If we stay consistent, focused, and slow down their big hitters, we will win this game.”
