This past weekend, the NMU women’s volleyball team competed in its final away series of the season. The team came away from the weekend with a split. The team competed against two GLIAC rivals for the second time this season. Currently, the Wildcats sit 11-13 overall and 8-4 in the GLIAC conference following a big 3-2 win during last week against rival Michigan Tech.
“I mean, we split on the road, we got swept at Parkside… the Tech match, incredible match, right? Incredible crowd. Those matches always have heightened emotions, and so to go out there and perform the way we did… my emotions were just crazy. Then you go on the road, we play at Roosevelt, who had been struggling this year, and you know, get a win there on Halloween night, then the next day go to Parkside. I’m not shocked by what happened. I feel like we have been kind of playing with fire for the last week and a half, two weeks with our performance,” Head Coach Mike Lozier said.
First on the weekend the Wildcats traveled to take on Roosevelt, getting the win 3-1. Previously, when these teams played this season, the game ended similarly with the Wildcats on top 3-0. In this win the ‘Cats fell in the first set 25-21 but put on a show the rest of the sets, winning all three and taking the game. The second set the ‘Cats ended on top 25-16, followed by 25-22 and finally, 25-16 again in the fourth set.
Senior middle back McKenzie Gruner ended the game with 15 kills, one dig and four blocks. Joining Gruner was junior outside hitter Kaysie Bakke with 10 kills, three digs and three blocks over Roosevelt. Sophomore Madison York also had 10 kills and one dig. Junior libero Lisel Haugen came away with 12 digs and seven assists.
Moving on from the win at Roosevelt, the team traveled back up to Wisconsin where they were hosted by Parkside. In the previous matchup between these teams, the Wildcats came away with the win 3-2. Unfortunately, this time for the ‘Cats they were swept up by Parkside, falling 3-0.
“Very disappointed — the team knows that — with our performance, but you know we just got to learn from it and move on and focus on Ferris here Friday. But it was an opportunity that we squandered, and we just got to flush it and learn from it and move on,” Coach Lozier said.
Despite the loss, some Wildcats still finished with great numbers. Junior setter Allie Barlow came away with one kill, nine digs, two blocks, and 28 assists. Outside hitter and fellow junior Sydney Bartels ended the game with seven kills and six digs.
This weekend the team is back at home for one of the final weekends of the regular season. The Wildcats will host two GLIAC rivals. First on Friday the Wildcats will host Ferris State at 7 p.m. Early on in the season when these two teams met, Ferris was nationally ranked and swept the Wildcats 3-0. Following the Ferris game on Friday, the Cats will be back on the court as they host Davenport Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Similar to the Ferris game earlier in the season, the Wildcats were swept by Davenport 3-0 in the game.
“We’ve just got to be ready to play… it’s kind of tempering that nervousness about the weight of every win and loss… you have to put all of your energy and your focus into Ferris. we really have to make sure we’re aware of what Davenport’s been doing the last couple weeks because they took it to us when we were at Davenport, and it’s on us to kind of answer the call on Saturday as well,” Coach Lozier said.
Following this weekend the Wildcats will host their last two games of the regular season next weekend against Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State before heading into the postseason. The Wildcats are currently ranked fourth in the GLIAC.
