Mike Lozier Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
Mike Lozier Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
The Northern Michigan University women's volleyball team secured its first sweep of the season by defeating Roosevelt University in three sets on Saturday. The match scores were 26-24, 27-25, and 25-22.
Northern Michigan needed extra points to win two of the three sets. Senior McKenzie Gruner tied her career high with 15 kills, including eight in the second set. She also recorded a .414 attack percentage and shared the team lead in blocks with Emilia Gulock at 2.5 each. As a team, Northern Michigan matched its season high with nine blocks.
"Overall, I'm very proud of our team this weekend," said assistant coach Lauren Van Remortel. "While our physical play was shaky at times, the mental toughness that the team showed down the stretch both last night and today is a true testament to how hard they've been working."
Northern Michigan finished with 39 kills and a .175 hitting percentage, while Roosevelt posted 30 kills on .075 hitting. The Wildcats also delivered their best performance from the service line this season, recording nine aces. Freshman Kaylie McIntosh led with four aces during a key run to start the final set.
With this victory, Northern Michigan improved to an overall record of 3-9 and evened its conference record at 2-2. Roosevelt fell to 1-11 overall and remained winless in conference play at 0-4.
In the opening set, NMU hit .281 compared to Roosevelt's .167 and led in kills 15-11. McIntosh led NMU with five kills in that set.
The second set saw both teams trading leads before Gruner’s eighth kill clinched it for NMU at 27-25. In total, NMU had a dominant advantage in kills for that frame.
McIntosh opened the third set with four consecutive aces as NMU built an early lead and maintained control despite an eight-point run from Roosevelt late in the set.
Freshman Grace Allen made her first career appearance for Northern Michigan during the third set.
Northern Michigan will travel next weekend for matches against Saginaw Valley State on October 3 and Lake Superior State on October 4.
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