Welcome back, Wildcat Volleyball. It’s been a few months since the Wildcats last took the court, but they made their season debut over the weekend. The team opened up the 2025 season in the Sunshine State, where they competed in the Springhill Suites Invitational hosted by the University of West Florida.
The Wildcats played a total of four games throughout the tournament, starting off with a strong opening game. The Wildcats first faced off against Wheeling University. The Cats were able to get the win in four sets.
“We played well…felt good about that,” returning head coach Mike Lozier said.
In the win over Wheeling, redshirt freshman Taylor Smaka and junior Lauren Cardwell, both defensive specialists, helped lead the team to the win, each with 6 digs. On the offensive side, senior middleblocker McKenzie Gruner came away with 15 kills during the game, four digs, and four blocks. Joining Gruner with a high kill count in the win, with 17 kills recorded, was outside hitter Kaysie Bakke. Bakke was also recorded with one dig in the victory.
Sophomore middleback Emilia Gulock contributed eight kills to the Cats’ totals. Junior libero Liesl Haugen came away with 20 digs and three assists. Sydney Bartels, a junior outside hitter, recorded 13 kills, 14 digs, and one block. Finally, senior Rayne Thompson had three kills and one dig in the win.
Coming off the first game victory, the Wildcats were hoping to keep up the winning streak going into the rest of the tournament. Unfortunately for the Cats, the next game against Spring Hill College was met with struggles that led them to fall to the Badgers, 1-3. Although ending in a loss, the Wildcats fought hard throughout all the sets, managing to keep the final scores of each set within single digits.
Gulock had another good game, coming away with another 11 kills and one block on the night. Right-side hitter, sophomore Madison York, ended the game with a full stat sheet; with three blocks and digs paired with one assist and 14 kills. Haugen came away from the loss with one kill, 16 digs, and four assists. Junior setter, Allie Barlow had one kill, 15 digs, and 45 assists in the loss against Springhill.
Moving on to the third of the four games that the Wildcats took on during the tournament, NMU faced off against No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State University. The Cats were not able to come away from the game with a set win, falling 0-3. While the Wildcats were not able to get the win over SMSU, the team was able to fight hard throughout all three sets, keeping each final set score close, including set two, where the team was able to stay within two points. For the Wildcats, Barlow had 25 assists along with four kills and 13 digs in the loss while York walked off the court with 11 kills and three blocks. Bakke also posted four kills in the loss.
“[Communication] it’s such a big and crucial part of the game. And when you’re not communicating effectively on the floor the way you need to be and your opponents are, it’s a very stark contrast between two teams and how they look and how they play,” Coach Lozier said.
Finally, the last game of the tournament for the Wildcats was against West Florida. Again, unable to get the job done, the Wildcats fell in the final game of the tournament in another shutout loss, 0-3. Gruner completed the game, logging two kills and digs each, along with an assist and a block. Junior outside hitter Helen Beiring had two kills and one block.
While the Florida tournament was not what the Wildcats were hoping for, they will have the opportunity this week, as the Wildcats will head back on the road. The Cats are heading to yet another tournament, this time, the team will be competing in the Huskies Volleyball Classic, taking place in Minnesota. The Cats played their first game against No. 17 Barry University. From there, the team will compete the rest of the weekend against the following teams: Adelphi, St. Cloud University, and finally UM-Duluth on the final day of the tournament.
“ We’re going to put the best lineup we think we have out against Barry. We’ll continue that process every single match. There’s no like conserving energy, conserving athletes, or anything like that. Obviously, fatigue is a thing, and we have a bench so we’ll utilize it as we see fit,” coach said.
Coming off this tournament, the Wildcats will move into GLIAC play first, traveling to Davenport next week for a game on Sept. 19. Wildcat volleyball won’t take the court at home until Sept. 26, where the team will host GLIAC rival Parkside, followed by Saginaw Valley State on the 27th.
“We knew we’d face adversity and how we respond to that adversity is kind of a key factor in how we can go, forward” Lozier said.
