Haugen records 38 digs, second most in Wildcat history
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan volleyball team picked up another big win in the penultimate weekend of the regular season, defeating the Davenport Panthers 24-26, 25-18, 25-23, and 25-21 at Vandament Arena on Saturday afternoon.
After dropping the opening set, the Wildcats bounced back by taking care of business in each of the next three.
For the second time this season, Liesl Haugen had a performance for the record books. The junior libero was lethal once again, recording her second 38-dig performance to tie herself for the second most digs in a match in program history. She was the backbone of a season-high 102-dig outing for the Wildcats.
Allie Barlow set the offense to perfection, handing out 53 assists. The wealth was spread around, as McKenzie Gruner (15), Sydney Bartels (14), Kaysie Bakke (13), and Madison York (10) all reached double figures.
Northern hit .177 on the match, edging Davenport’s .169. The Wildcats doubled up the Panthers in aces, 10-5. Haugen led the way with four.
“I am super proud of the team for gutting out this win,” said assistant coach Kamryn Diffueld after the win. “We went into it knowing we’d have to win the defensive battle and we persisted through a lot of tough rallies to do so. Both sides of our first contact game were great which helped us tremendously, especially down the stretch. We also couldn’t be happier to take this one in four sets! We are excited for two more matches in the Vandament next weekend!”
The win moved the Wildcats to 13-13, the first time they’ve reached the .500 mark this season. NMU is also 10-4 in league play with just two matches remaining, and is currently in fourth place, a game behind conference leaders Ferris State and Grand Valley State. Now a game up on fifth-seeded Parkside, the Wildcats are firmly in the driver’s seat to clinch a GLIAC home quarterfinal match next weekend.
How it Happened
The Wildcats jumped out to a 6-3 advantage to get the match started, but a 6-0 run from the Panthers erased the Northern lead. NMU later scored four straight to lead 17-15. The set remained tight, with the sides deadlocked at 21-21. Back-to-back kills from Bartels and Bakke had NMU at match point 24-22, but Davenport rallied with the final four points and secured a 26-24 win with an ace. Bartels (7) and Bakke (5) combined for 12 of NMU’s 17 kills.
The Wildcats didn’t let the late Davenport run in the first affect them in the second, as they jumped in front 10-6 to force a Davenport timeout. NMU widened its lead to 22-14, but four straight from Davenport closed it to four. The Wildcats answered with the final three points and secured the set 25-18 with a Bartels ace. NMU locked down defensively, limiting DU to a -.030 attack percentage.
The Wildcats again jumped ahead in the third, forcing a Panther timeout with a 13-10 score. NMU remained in front at 23-18, but Davenport rallied with the next five to even the score at 23-23. Northern responded again with the last two points to win the set 25-23 and lead the match 2-1. Each offense had its best frame in the third, with the Wildcats notching 19 kills on a .320 hitting percentage.
The Panthers were the ones to lead early in the fourth, building a 10-4 edge. From there the scripts flipped, as Northern went on a 10-0 run with two Bartels’ aces to lead 14-10. After a couple DU points, a pair of kills from York kickstarted another 6-0 spurt to lead 20-12. The Panthers got back in it with seven straight points, but three late kills from Gruner set up match point at 24-21. She’d team up with Bartels for the match-winning block.
Up Next
The Wildcats will close out the regular season at home, hosting Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State on November 14-15.
