Wildcats are the third seed and host the sixth seed, Saginaw Valley State
MARQUETTE, Mich. – With two big wins to close out the regular season, the Northern Michigan volleyball team (13-14, 9-7 GLIAC) earned the No. 3 seed in the conference and will host No. 6 Saginaw Valley State (17-11, 9-7 GLIAC) on Wednesday, November 11, at 6 p.m.
The Wildcats were one of four teams (SVSU, Davenport, and Michigan Tech) to finish at 9-7 in the conference, but owned the tiebreaker due to a 4-1 record within the group. It is now the third straight season Northern earned a top four seed and will be home to begin the GLIAC Tournament.
Wednesday’s match can be watched on FloSports and listened to on 100.3 The Point, with Austin Graham on the call.
Follow the Action
Stay connected with @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for updates throughout the weekend.
Last Time Out
Northern closed out the regular season in dramatic fashion, earning a 3-2 victory over Parkside. The Wildcats rallied from a 2-1 match deficit, taking the fourth set 25-22 before overcoming an 11-14 deficit in the deciding set to secure the 17-15 win.
Kaylie McIntosh led the Wildcats with 20 kills, while KC Fortune added 13 and Anna O’Keefe recorded 12. Allie Barlow paced the offense with 48 assists, and Lauren Cardwell led the defensive effort with 14 digs. Olivia Ziemer and Sydney Bartels each contributed three service aces.
About the ‘Cats
Senior setter Allie Barlow leads the NMU offense and was named the GLIAC Setter of the Week twice this season. Barlow has 1,016 assists, ranking third in the GLIAC. She has also been one of the best in the conference at the service line, ranking first in aces (50) and second in aces per set (0.48), which both are top-50 marks nationally. Her seven aces at Lake Superior State on October 3 are also a high point among all league matches. She surpassed 3,000 career assists earlier this season, becoming just the eighth player in program history to reach the milestone.
Kaylie McIntosh leads the Wildcats with 338 kills this season, ranking fifth in the GLIAC. McIntosh has been one of the conference’s most productive attackers throughout the season, including a career-high 28-kill performance against Michigan Tech.
NMU has also seen significant offensive production from a pair of freshmen. Anna O’Keefe is second on the team with 226 kills, including a season-high 20 kills in her debut against Winona State. Laynie Russell isn’t far behind with 211 kills along with a team-high 62 blocks and a .278 attack percentage. KC Fortune has 223 kills, including 48 over her last three.
A Look at Saginaw Valley State
The Cardinals also went 9-7 in conference play, dropping their last two matches of the regular season. SVSU is 6-4 on the road, including a 3-1 win over the Wildcats in Marquette on September 19, in which NMU won the first set 25-18, but SVSU claimed the next three (20-25, 21-25, 20-25).
The Cardinals are led by Rachel Townsend with 329 kills (3.26 kills per set). Jackie Scheiber also has 221 kills to go along with a 3.07 kills-per-set average. Defensively, Marissa Roe leads the conference with 98 blocks. The team is averaging 1.98 blocks per set, ranking second in the GLIAC.
The other quarterfinals on Wednesday will have #7 Wayne State at #2 Grand Valley State; #8 Parkside at #1 Ferris State; and #5 Michigan Tech at #4 Davenport.
