North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) women's volleyball team secured its sixth consecutive victory on Saturday, defeating Purdue Northwest in four sets with scores of 26-24, 25-18, 21-25, and 25-23. The match took place in Hammond, Indiana.

After narrowly winning the first set and taking control in the second, NMU was unable to complete a sweep as Purdue Northwest rallied late in the third set. However, the Wildcats responded by winning a closely contested fourth set to claim the match.

Offensively, NMU recorded 61 kills with a .267 attack percentage. McKenzie Gruner and Kaylie McIntosh led the team with 14 kills each. Madison York contributed 13 kills and Emilia Gulock added 10. Kaysie Bakke provided eight kills, including two that clinched sets for NMU. Allie Barlow directed play with 47 assists.

"I am proud of us for pushing through some tight moments," said Bakke after the match. "We didn't let up or let a few plays affect us. I thought our offense was well-balanced and everyone was putting balls away. We made a lot of scrappy plays on defense too. I am excited to be back at the Midwest Crossover next weekend."

Defensively, Gruner and Gulock each registered four blocks at the net. Liesl Haugen followed her career-best performance from Thursday by recording 22 digs during Saturday's win.

With this result, NMU improved its overall record to 7-9 and holds a conference record of 5-2 in GLIAC play. Purdue Northwest now stands at 6-7 overall and is 3-4 within the conference.

In set-by-set action, both teams were evenly matched in the opener until Purdue Northwest gained a late lead through consecutive aces. NMU then won five straight points to take the first set. In the second frame, after an early deficit, NMU used strong middle attacks—highlighted by Gruner's four kills—to tie before McIntosh delivered four consecutive kills for an advantage that led to a comfortable set win.

Gruner continued her strong play into the third set but Purdue Northwest recovered from a mid-set deficit to close out seven of eight final points for their only set win of the match.

Purdue Northwest started quickly in the fourth but NMU erased an early gap before pulling ahead late thanks to key contributions from Gulock and Bakke.

The Wildcats are scheduled to return to Hammond next weekend for participation in the Midwest Region Crossover tournament on October 17-18; their opponents will be announced earlier in that week.