The women’s volleyball team had the opportunity to travel to Florida to compete against several top ranked teams in a weekend tournament last Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7Senior Kalli Herron, who contributed 43 kills and 13 digs over the course of the weekend, said the team played well and everyone put forth an effort in the tournament.“It went really good,” Herron said. “We saw some nationally ranked teams and it turned out well for everyone. Everyone contributed to the wins and everyone contributed equally.” 

The team ended the weekend with two match wins and two match losses.

Head Coach Dominic Yoder said the ’Cats should have taken four match wins, but was still satisfied with the results against competitive teams.“The speed of the game [was a challenge],” Yoder said, “They are all within the top 15 in the nation and we knew the competition was going to be tough, but capable.”

The first game of the weekend landed the ’Cats a winning start after defeating Florida Institute of Technology 3-1 in an 11:30 a.m. game Friday, Sept. 6 at the UWF Invite in Pensacola, Fla.

Fifth year senior Sarah Hamilton completed 44 kills and four digs over the weekend.

Hamilton said the team  picked up the intensity on the floor in order to take home the victories.

“Everyone worked really well together,” Hamilton said. “We all have the same goal in mind and now it’s just about connecting the little things.”

The second game, versus the University of Southern Indiana at  8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6 resulted in a shutout 3-0 victory for the ’Cats.

The Wildcats finished with 50 kills and a 0.276 attack percentage in three sets.

The matches on the second day of the tournament took longer than day one.

The Wildcats used all five sets in the final two matches of the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 7.

They faced No. 19 ranked University of West Florida, as well as Missouri Science and Technology. The first match at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 brought the Wildcats face to face with Missouri S&T.

The Wildcats lost the first set 15-25. The women then swept sets two and three with a pair of 25-18 victories to take the lead over the Miners three games into the match.

The Miners had fewer errors in comparison to the ’Cats in every set, contributing to their victory.

In the first set alone, the Miners finished with four errors in comparison to the 10 the Wildcats put up. However, the Wildcats still put up some big numbers for their team.

Senior Lina Lopes finished the game with 17 kills and 13 digs. Lopes also led the team in kills for three of the four matches over the weekend.

Yoder said Lopes put in some good playing time for the ’Cats in the tournament, and this is looking to be her best season.

“She played extremely well,” Yoder said. “She is very capable, and looking back over her career her freshman year was her best, and she is looking better than she did her freshman year.”

The Wildcats played at 8 p.m. that evening, Saturday, Sept. 7 against No. 19 ranked University of West Florida, in the second match to last five sets.

The ’Cats finished sets one and two with losses, 20-25 followed by 15-25.

The Wildcats took the following sets three and four with 25-22 and 25-23 victories. The fifth match ended in a victory for University of West Florida, 15-10.

Yoder said the tournament gave the ’Cats some practice that has the potential to transfer to the rest of the season.

“It’s beneficial to our team to have played at a high level,” Yoder said. “Our goal is still to win conference and to compete in the top three teams.”

The Wildcats are back on the court for a weekend tournament starting 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at home, in the Vandament Arena.

The tournament will continue at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Vandament Arena. NMU hosts six teams over the course of two days.

“We are just going to plug away in this weekend’s tournament,” Yoder said. “This year the students are starting the NMU Cat Attack Zone, where they will host theme nights to go with the games. We want to try and get as many fans to the games as possible.”