Great Lakes Wire

Northern Michigan University's volleyball team concluded their regular season with a loss against Ferris State. The match, held in Big Rapids, Michigan, saw the Wildcats defeated in straight sets with scores of 12-25, 16-25, and 11-25.

As the No. 5 seed, NMU will now focus on the upcoming GLIAC Quarterfinals scheduled for Wednesday. They are set to face off against rival Michigan Tech, who holds the No. 4 seed position. NMU finished their conference play with a balanced record of 9-9.

Jacqueline Smith led Northern Michigan with nine kills during the match. Lauren Van Remortel provided 20 assists, Caylie Barlage recorded ten digs, and Meghan Meyer contributed two blocks.

In the first set against Ferris State, ranked No. 20 nationally, NMU initially kept pace with a tie at 5-5. However, Ferris State quickly pulled ahead by scoring five consecutive points and ultimately secured the set by winning 13 of the last 16 points.

The second set saw Northern trailing at 15-8 but they rallied to close the gap to 20-16 after an Evynn Layshock kill sparked a three-point run. Despite this effort, Ferris State closed out the set with five unanswered points including a service ace for the final point.

The third set began unfavorably for NMU as they fell behind 5-0 early on. A timeout was called but Ferris State extended their lead to 10-1 and maintained control to win the set decisively at 25-11, completing their sweep over NMU.

Looking ahead, NMU will compete in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals against Michigan Tech on November 15th in what promises to be a competitive matchup between closely ranked teams.