North Michigan News

Northern Michigan University's women's volleyball team lost to No. 15-ranked Southwest Minnesota State in three sets on Friday at the SpringHill Suites Invitational in Pensacola, Florida. The set scores were 19-25, 23-25, and 15-25.

Madison York led Northern Michigan for the second consecutive match with 11 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. On defense, Liesl Haugen recorded 20 digs while Allie Barlow added 13 digs and contributed 25 assists. McKenzie Gruner led the team at the net with three blocks as part of the Wildcats' eight total blocks.

Southwest Minnesota State outperformed Northern Michigan offensively, registering 45 kills compared to NMU's 33 and hitting .248 to NMU's .105. Leah Jones had a match-high of 12 kills for SMSU, while Mya Krystosek added 11 kills and three aces.

In the first set, SMSU built an early lead at 11-5 before NMU narrowed the gap with points from several players including York, Kaylie McIntosh, Gruner, and Kaysie Bakke. However, Southwest Minnesota State went on two separate three-point runs late in the set to secure a 25-19 win.

Northern Michigan responded in the second set by taking leads after runs of four, three, and five consecutive points to go up 14-10. Five different Wildcats contributed kills during these stretches. After leading by four late in the set following their third ace of the frame for a score of 21-17, NMU was unable to close it out as SMSU won eight of the final ten points to take it 25-23.

The Wildcats again started strong in the third set with a brief lead at 7-5 thanks to consecutive kills from York and an ace from Sydney Bartels. SMSU countered with five straight points and maintained momentum through much of the rest of the set before finishing off Northern Michigan by winning five of six final points for a decisive third-set victory.

Northern Michigan will finish its participation in the SpringHill Suites Invitational against host West Florida on September 6 at 11 a.m. ET.