The NMU Women’s Volleyball team moves their hard- fought record up to 13-0 (9-0 GLIAC). They remain at the top of the GLIAC North and move up to 14th in the nation. The team is finally able to have a little bit of down time after a very competitive matchup this past weekend against long time rivals, the Michigan Tech Huskies.
The Wildcats struggled in the first set, with three return errors and six miss-serves. The Huskies, taking quick advantage of these mistakes, were able to win the first set 21-25. The Wildcats would not be shaken up so easily though as the fans in the Cat Attack Zone raised to their feet and cheered with excitement trying to get the team back in the game.
The Wildcats would indeed regain their diligence and focus as they would claim victory in the second set with a score of 25-14. The ’Cats, feeling the energy all around them fought another hard third set to win it by 25-20 and finally finished the game off in the fourth set with a 25-11, as they defeated the Huskies for the second time this season.
Sophomore setter Abby Lovell said that it was a great match and a good feeling to remain undefeated, but the stress level is rising.
“We didn’t seem mentally there in the first set,” Lovell said. “After that, we just got our game together and just stayed focused. With everyone executing their game and skills, we went on to win the next three sets, which was an awesome feeling.”
Junior hitter Emma Wolfe agreed that the first set started off pretty rough, but in the end the team pulled through and got the victory.
“We just started slow in the first set and didn’t play to our potential,” Wolfe said. “We made a lot of service errors that could have been prevented, but we came back and stayed focused and learned from our mistakes.”
Sami Vierk led the Wildcats with 14 kills, along with Emma Wolfe and Kalli Herron who had 10 kills each. Abby Lovell also had four kills on top of her 48 assists for that game as well.
Head coach Dominic Yoder said that he is glad his team was able to pull the upset against Tech, but nothing is going to get easier from here on out.
“It was great to beat Tech twice this year,” Yoder said. “The last time we beat them twice in one year was 2008, so it’s a great accomplishment. Now we just have to stay focused and put this win behind us and move forward to bigger and better things and accomplish our goals set ahead of us.”
The Wildcats will be on the road taking on two fierce competitors this weekend. The first team the ’Cats will meet is Tiffin University on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Tiffin, Ohio. The final team which the ’Cats will meet is Ohio Dominican University on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
Yoder said being this deep undefeated is a first for him and he hopes to remain undefeated after this weekend, but the road will be a tough one to travel, he said.
“These two teams are scary good,” Yoder said. “Tiffin is a very competitive team that has some of the best hitters in the conference. Ohio Dominican University is new to our conference, so the unknown is always a bit intimidating, but as long as we control the tempo of the game and we show up to compete, I don’t see how we could lose either game.”
