North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University volleyball team is preparing for two upcoming road matches following a series of recent victories. The Wildcats have secured four consecutive wins in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), including a five-set victory over Saginaw Valley State and a sweep against Lake Superior State last weekend.

The team will first face Michigan Tech in a non-conference match on Thursday, October 9, at 6 p.m. The match will take place in Houghton, Michigan. Afterward, the Wildcats will travel to Hammond, Indiana, to play Purdue Northwest on Saturday, October 11, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Both matches are available for streaming on FloCollege.

Head coach Mike Lozier commented on the team's preparations: "We are working on being able to slow down their outsides…we are changing our defense and our blocking scheme a bit. The best way to quiet a crowd is to do it on the scoreboard, and the hope is we come out fast and take control from there."

This season, Northern Michigan has played 12 of its 14 matches away from home and will continue this trend with five more road games before returning to Vandament Arena. Last weekend's performances were highlighted by libero Liesl Haugen, who received her second career GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after tying her season-high with 25 digs against Saginaw Valley State and recording 16 digs versus Lake Superior State. Haugen currently averages 4.88 digs per set over four conference matches, ranking fourth in that category within the league.

On offense, McKenzie Gruner has been instrumental during the Wildcats' winning streak by achieving at least 13 kills while maintaining a hitting percentage above .300 in each of the last four matches. She posted back-to-back career-best performances with 16 kills last weekend. Gruner’s six conference match totals include 74 kills (seventh in GLIAC) and a .388 hitting percentage (first).

At the midpoint of the regular season, Northern Michigan averages 11.6 kills and 10.8 assists per set, with five players having recorded at least two double-digit kill matches each. Allie Barlow leads as setter with 438 assists—fifth most in the conference—guiding what is described as an unpredictable offensive attack.

Northern Michigan won both encounters against Michigan Tech last season, including one five-set match in Houghton. Historically, NMU holds a strong record against Purdue Northwest with nine wins out of ten meetings.

Michigan Tech enters Thursday’s game also holding a 4-2 GLIAC record (7-6 overall) and remains unbeaten at home this season (2-0). Offensively, Jacqueline Yancy (129 kills) and Rachel Zurek (126) lead for Tech; Yancy tops conference play with 86 kills so far. Setter Tess Hayes has tallied 318 assists this year and was recently named GLIAC Setter of the Week.

Purdue Northwest stands one game behind Northern Michigan in conference standings at 3-3 (6-6 overall). Despite losses last weekend to Wayne State and Grand Valley State, they average 12.4 kills and 11.5 assists per set this season. Three players—Anika Huelskamp (119), Arra Cottrell (118), Allyson Cathey (107)—have surpassed triple digits in kills so far. The Pride lead the conference in service aces per set (2.13) and rank second in blocks per set (2.33). Marina Gronkiewicz’s total of 28 aces is highest among all GLIAC players.

Fans can follow updates throughout the weekend via @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X.