Mike Lozier Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
Mike Lozier Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
Northern Michigan University’s volleyball team earned its second win of the season by defeating previously unbeaten Parkside Rangers in their home opener at Vandament Arena on Friday. The Wildcats, now 2-9 overall and 1-2 in conference play, overcame a two-set deficit to secure a five-set victory: 26-24, 17-25, 13-25, 25-21, 15-7.
The match began with Northern taking the first set after a close contest. Parkside responded strongly by winning the next two sets decisively. Facing elimination, Northern regrouped and won the fourth set before mounting a comeback in the fifth. Trailing 6-3 in the final set to 15 points, NMU went on a decisive nine-point run highlighted by six kills. They scored 12 of the last 13 points to claim victory.
Assistant coach Kamryn Duffield said: "I am insanely proud of the team for their resilience tonight. This was an all-around gritty victory. Both of our middles had an awesome performance and our block and defense was extremely disciplined which led us to the win. We are so happy to get a win in our first match in Vandament this year. Shoutout to all of our supporters who came out tonight!"
Four Wildcats reached double digits in kills for only the second time this season—senior captain McKenzie Gruner led with 13 kills, Madison York contributed 11, while Emilia Gulock and Sydney Bartels each added ten. Both teams finished with 52 kills; NMU recorded a .135 hitting percentage.
At the net, Northern held a slight advantage with nine blocks compared to Parkside’s eight. Gulock had three blocks and Kaylie McIntosh added two for NMU. Liesl Haugen tallied 25 digs out of NMU’s season-best total of 91 digs, while Allie Barlow provided 39 assists.
Parkside’s Sam Fisch posted a match-high of eighteen kills; Natalie Harris delivered five aces and twenty-six digs for the Rangers.
Head coach Mike Lozier improved his record in home openers at NMU to seven wins and two losses as he enters his ninth season leading the program.
The Wildcats will host Roosevelt Lakers on Saturday at Vandament Arena.
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