Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University volleyball team secured a victory over the Parkside Rangers in the GLIAC Quarterfinals, held at Vandament Arena. The Wildcats won in four sets with scores of 25-16, 25-15, 25-20, and 25-15, advancing to the Semifinals.

Northern Michigan, seeded third, will face No. 2 Grand Valley State in the upcoming match on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Ferris State will host the remaining tournament games after defeating Purdue Northwest and will compete against No. 5 Michigan Tech.

Senior Jacqueline Smith was instrumental for Northern Michigan with 20 kills. Meghan Meyer contributed with 15 kills and a .536 hitting percentage. The team led with a total of 60 kills and a .275 hitting percentage overall. Allie Barlow provided 50 assists while Caylie Barlage had 24 digs.

"Really happy with the entire team tonight," Mike Lozier said following the win. "Everyone did their job. I am especially proud of Jacqui, Meghan, and Caylie. They did a phenomenal job in critical moments tonight."

In set one, Smith initiated scoring which was followed by contributions from Madison York and Lauren Cardwell's service ace. NMU managed several runs that kept them ahead throughout the set.

Set two saw Smith again starting strong alongside Cardwell's ace. Despite some resistance from Parkside, NMU maintained control leading to another set win.

The third set began competitively but saw Parkside pulling ahead temporarily before sealing it at 25-20 after several exchanges of points.

NMU dominated set four early on with Smith and Meyer's performances contributing significantly to an early lead that resulted in a decisive win for NMU to progress further in the tournament.

The Wildcats are scheduled to play against Grand Valley State in Big Rapids for their next semifinal match on November 23rd.