Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) volleyball team achieved a significant victory against Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) on Saturday evening. The Wildcats secured a sweep with set scores of 25-23, 25-10, and 25-18. NMU recorded a season-high of 15 aces during the match, marking their return to the win column.

Jacqueline Smith led the Wildcats' offensive efforts with 17 kills and an attack percentage of .412. Allie Barlow contributed 38 assists, while Liesl Haugen excelled defensively with 18 digs. The team's total of 15 aces was distributed among Barlow with five, Smith with four, and three each from Julia Bouma and Cayle Barlage. This performance marked the highest number of aces in a three-set match within the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) this season.

The Wildcats hit .301 as a team, their best mark for the season so far. They also achieved their second-highest output of assists in a three-set match this year, totaling 40 assists.

This victory improves Northern Michigan's overall record to 8-14 and their conference record to 5-6 in the GLIAC. Conversely, SVSU's defeat leaves them at an overall record of 3-19 and winless at 0-11 in conference matches.

In the first set, both teams kept close scores until NMU gained momentum at set point up 24-23 when Julia Bouma delivered an ace to clinch it for her team. Jacqueline Smith had another strong start by securing seven kills in this initial set.

In the second set, Smith continued her strong performance by contributing consecutive kills that initiated a series of five straight points for NMU. This early lead allowed them to dominate throughout the set and secure it decisively at 25-10 after Evynn Layshock made two crucial kills towards its end.

During the final set which began evenly matched at six-all, NMU went on a five-point run including two service aces from Caylie Barlage leading them comfortably ahead to eventually close out at 25-18 ensuring victory over SVSU.

Looking ahead into next weekend's schedule; Northern will complete their seven-game road trip facing off against Grand Valley followed by Davenport on Friday October27thand Saturday October28threspectively.