This story was written by MTU Athletics (NMU story below; NMU Photo)
 

MARQUETTE, Mich. – No. 21 Michigan Tech wrapped up the 2021 regular season with a 3-2 loss at No. 19 Northern Michigan Saturday (Apr. 3). Despite the loss, the Huskies were still crowned GLIAC Regular Season Co-Champions with its 9-3 record.
 

"As hard as it is to swallow, there is absolutely no shame in this loss," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Northern is a very good team and like us, went undefeated at home this year.

This was a battle of the league's two best offenses, and we knew that if it came down to going point for point on the offensive side of the ball, it'd come down to the wire. The difference between today and last night was defense. Our block had a hard time adjusting all match, and as well as our hitters did at times, it wasn't enough."

Similar to Friday night in Houghton, NMU took the first set before Tech tied it up in the second. Laura De Marchi served the Huskies to a 6-0 lead in the second. Tech built it to an eight-point lead at 21-13 and limited NMU to only nine kills while tallying 16 of its own to win 25-19.

NMU (11-2) controlled from the outset in the third. Back-to-back kills by Anna Jonynas made it a three-point game at 19-16, but the teams traded points until NMU took the win 25-21.

Tech dominated in the fourth using a 5-0 run to lead 7-3 and then closed the set on a 15-4 run to send it to a fifth set after a 25-11 win. The Huskies hit .621 and had 19 kills to only seven for NMU.

The Wildcats won 15-12 in the fifth set. They took a 6-3 lead and closed the match on a 5-3 run after Tech got within one at 10-9.

"We had some incredible performances this weekend," added Jennings. "Anna was outstanding both days and the way she stepped up with Olivia out was inspiring. What a great player she is. Our freshmen really showed us something today as well. To come off the bench in a match like this one and give us that spark was impressive to say the least. Lindy played both days with a lot of courage and confidence and did everything this team asked of her."

Anna Jonynas tied her career-high with 23 kills while hitting .375 and digging up 16 balls. Lindy Oujiri had a season-high 18 kills and hit .353. Janie Grindland was also in double figures with 11 kills while adding three block assists.

"Our upperclassmen were tough and put us in a position to win," said Jennings. "Janie was scoring a lot of tough points for us again today, Grace's passing was on point, and Meg and Laura's leadership kept us in this one until the end."

Laura De Marchi had 56 assists and led the team with 17 digs. She also added a pair of kills and a pair of block assists. Megan Utlak had a dozen digs and Grace Novotny added 11 digs.

"Look, I wanted this one as bad as anyone," Jennings said. "But to earn a share of the GLIAC title means something to this program. We fell short today, but we did a lot of good stuff this year that we can be proud of."

The only other time the Huskies won a GLIAC regular-season championship was 1994 when they also shared it with Northern Michigan.

Tech will wrap up the season at the GLIAC Tournament next weekend hosted by Saginaw Valley State.

This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- No. 19 Northern Michigan University volleyball is adding another championship to their list of accomplishments as they earned the 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season title with a 3-2 win over No. 21 Michigan Technological University on Saturday. 

The first set had both teams neck and neck in the early going. Seven ties got the set to 8-8, which is when the Wildcats started to take control of the match.

Two Huskies errors put the Wildcats up 10-8. Hailey Wickstrom capped off the 3-0 run with a kill. After the run, NMU never fell behind again in the opening frame.

The home team eventually built their lead up to seven after going on a 7-2 streak. That series was capped off with an Ania Hyatt and Lauren Van Remortel block.

MTU cut the lead down to five at 18-23, but the Wildcats had the set all but locked up.

Wickstrom notched two kills to bring the score to 25-19 and earn the set one win for NMU.

Set two showed very quickly the rival Huskies were not going to go away easily.

MTU started the set with a 6-0 run. The Wildcats took a time out to regroup and it worked as the Huskies committed a service area after the stoppage.

NMU pulled even closer as they were able to put three unanswered points up, when down 10-3. Meghan Meyer had her hands in two of those points as one was a kill from the freshman and the other was a Meyer service ace. The other point in the run was a Hyatt and Lizzy Stark block assist.

After falling behind 23-15 later in the set the Wildcats came charging back again. An MTU service error gave NMU a point before a Jacqueline Smith kill and a Lauren Caprini service ace pulled them within five.

Sadly, MTU withstood the test and evened up the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 set two win.

The beginning of the third set was an inverse of the second. The Wildcats opened the frame up with a 5-0 run featuring two kills from Meyer, two from Smith, and a Wickstrom block.

NMU built on the lead later in the set with a sequence of two consecutive kills and back-to-back blocks that had the socially distanced fans in Vandament Arena on their feet and pushed the lead to 15-8. The kills came courtesy of Smith and Wickstrom while the blocks were dished out by Meyer and Wickstrom. 

The Huskies were able to pull within three points late in the set, but ultimately an error by the visiting team secured the 25-21 set win for the Wildcats.

Set four started out even but soon got away from the NMU team. 

After the Wildcats went up 3-2, MTU went on a 5-0 run to earn the lead. A lead they would hold onto for the rest of the frame.

Smith was able to stop the Huskies' run with a kill for NMU and the teams traded six points to move the score to 10-7 in favor of the visiting team.

MTU went on an 18-5 tear for the rest of the set and never looked back. The Huskies forced a fifth set with a 25-11 set four win.

The winner-take-all final set for the title was as electric as expected.

MTU got on the board first with a kill, but that was followed by two kills from the Wildcats courtest of Stark and Meyer. 

An NMU service error tied the game at 2-2, which was the last time the Wildcats were not holding the lead.

Back-to-back Smith kills increased the NMU lead to two points. A Huskies kill cut the lead back down to one but a kill from Meyer and a block assist from Wickstrom and Meyer moved it up to three.

The visiting team pulled within one several more times in the frame, with the last coming with the Wildcats up 10-9. MTU's momentum did not deter or stop NMU who knew a title was waiting on the other side of the victory.

In the end, an unassisted kill from the freshman Smith notched the 15th Wildcat point and clinched the 3-2 match win and the conference title.

Smith led the team in kills with 18. The freshman hit at a .311 clip in the match. Three more NMU Wildcats contributed double-digit kills with Wickstrom (10), Stark (13), and Meyer (10) all coming up big for NMU.

Libero Alli Yacko had a team-high 15 digs in the victory. Madeline Crowley had 11 and also added a service ace and assist. 

The Wildcat block party was lively today as the team notched 14 total blocks. The four solo blocks were good enough for the second-highest mark from the team all season. Wickstrom led the party with three solo blocks and two assisted. She was followed by Hyatt who had four block assists and Meyer who notched one solo and one assisted block.

The NMU team now sets their eyes on the GLIAC tournament which will begin Friday, April 9 and run through Sunday, April 11 at Saginaw Valley State. The Wildcats will receive a bye as regular season champions.

The official seedings and brackets will be released tonight by the conference at the conclusion of the final GLIAC match of the regular season for all teams.