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Thursday September 19, 2024
ALMOST PERFECT: 'Cats Win 3 Of 4 In Minnesota

This story was written by NMU Sports Information. (NMU photos)

MANKATO, Minn. - In a battle of 3-0 teams to close out the Maverick Invite, the NMU Volleyball team fell to Minnesota State in five sets, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 14-25, and 6-15. 

The Wildcats held a 2-1 set advantage, but the home team rallied to hand Northern its first loss of the season. Jacqueline Smith led the way for the 'Cats with 17 kills, followed by Meghan Meyer and Kaysie Bakke with nine apiece. Allie Barlow reached 45 assists as the setter. 

Minnesota State closed out the Wildcats efficiently with a hitting percentage of .353 in the fourth set and .556 in the fifth. They recorded a game total of .266 to NMU's .166. 

Minnesota State began play by getting a quick lead of 8-5 on the Wildcats. A server's ace from Sydney Bartels paired with two kills from Megan Meyer sent the Wildcats into the lead for the first time of the match nearing mid-set.

NMU continued on its attack, forcing the Mavericks to take timeout after an attacking error tacked on another point, setting the score to 14-11 in favor of the 'Cats.

Right out of the timeout, the Wildcats capitalized and continued to keep momentum with a kill from Jacqueline Smith. 

The first set came to a close with a kill from Allie Barlow, marking the 25th point for NMU. 

Minnesota State and Northern Michigan each exchanged a kill to open set two. Mankato began to creep ahead of the Wildcats with a lead of five as the set progressed. 

Jacqueline Smith, recorded four kills, hopeful to regain the lead. Kills from Kaysie Bakke and McKenzie Gruner also aided in NMU's efforts to close the score gap.

Northern took a timeout with the score of the Mavericks 16th point, setting them once more at a five-point lead. 

Minnesota State continued forward despite NMU's attempts to get back in it, ultimately taking set two with a score of 25-19.

With the match tied at 1-1, the Wildcats opened the play in set three with five unanswered points in the form of kills from Jacqueline Smith and Helen Beiring, attacking errors made by Mankato, and a server's ace recorded by Allie Barlow. 

The set continued in a back-and-forth manner, however, NMU continued to maintain its early lead. The score showed 13-7 when the Minnesota State coaching staff elected for a timeout.

Senior Jacqueline Smith put up a kill assisted by Allie Barlow, directly following the timeout. The Wildcats used this and continued to push forward, not letting the Mavericks decrease the lead any further than a six-point deficit. 

Minnesota State elected to take its second timeout of the set once the Wildcats set the score to 18-8.

Set three was finished in favor of Northern by a kill from Meghan Meyer, her seventh of the match.

The Mavericks turned it on in the fourth set, putting together an early 5-0 run to grab a 8-4 lead. The 'Cats would chip away, closing the match to three at 13-10 thanks to a spread out kill attack, but soon after the Mavericks managed another 5-0 run and would go on to win the set 25-14. 

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Mavericks scored six of the first seven points in the decisive set and would finish with five of the last six to win the set 15-6.

The anticipated home opener at the new Vandament Arena wil take place on Thursday, September 12 against Findlay. A dedication will take place at 3 p.m. with the match following at 5 p.m.


SATURDAY'S EARLY MATCH

MANKATO, Minn. - The Northern Michigan volleyball team secured its third victory in as many attempts at the Maverick Invite on Saturday morning, sweeping the Upper Iowa Peacocks in straight sets 25-23, 25-16, and 25-21. 

It was another all-around effort from the Green and Gold, seeing a different significant contributor in each set. To get things going, the duo of Allie Barlow and Meghan Meyer took control, connecting five times for a perfect five kills to help lead Northern to a 25-23 opening set one win. 

"I'm proud of how we came together as a team and took care of business," Meyer said following the match. "We knew what we had to do and we did it. It is exciting to see our potential now knowing that we have things we need to improve on."

The Wildcats displayed dominance in the second in large part thanks to Caylie Barlage. In a close set early on, Barlage rattled off three straight aces as part of a 5-0 run to lead 10-4. The senior would total an astounding four aces in the set, along with a kill, to power NMU in front 25-16. 

Northern went to the outside to secure the sweep, getting five kills from Jacqueline Smith and four more from Helen Beiring to upend the Peacocks 25-21 in the final frame. 

The Wildcats recorded a season-high 10 aces and hit .265 as a team, led by 10 from Smith, nine from Meyer, and six apiece from Beiring, Kaysie Bakke, and McKenzie Gruner. Meyer showcased why she is one of the most efficient attackers in the country, converting her nine kills on just 12 attempts for a .750 attack percentage.

NMU struck first in the match and got off to an early lead with a kill from Kaysie Bakke and a an ace from Liesl Haugen. 

The set started with back and forth points from each side. Key players for the Wildcats such as Megan Meyer, Caylie Barlage, Jacqueline Smith, and Helen Beiring propelled the 'Cats to an early lead over the Peacocks (13-8).

Upper Iowa made a surge, testing the Wildcat defense, however the Peacocks were unsuccessful as Kaysie Bakke put an end to set one with a kill.

After taking the first, the Wildcats opened the second set of play with a quick kill from the Peacocks. The Wildcats quickly gained an early lead with errors from Upper Iowa's offense.

Helen Beiring recorded the first kill for the 'Cats from Allie Barlow, setting the score at 6-4. The Wildcats maintained and built on this early lead for the rest of the set.

Great efforts from Caylie Barlage came in the form of multiple consecutive server's aces, pushing the Wildcat offense into a larger lead that would prove to be one the Peacock wouldn't recover from. 

The set point of the set was recorded by senior Megan Meyer in the form of a kill assisted by Allie Barlow. 

Upper Iowa began the third set on the attack, quickly gaining a 4-0 lead over the 'Cats. The Peacocks run was put to an end with a kill from McKenzie Gruner.

NMU remained trailing Upper Iowa for the first half of the set. Things started to look up for the Wildcats as they closed the score gap in the form of two kills from Helen Beiring and attacking errors from the Peacocks.

Megan Meyer capitalized on the swing of momentum in the match, adding two kills of her own to accompany another server's ace from Caylie Barlage.

The Wildcats wrapped up the match in three sets with a final kill from Jacqueline Smith, locking the final score for set three in at 25-21.