Volleyball Finishes Opening Weekend 3-1 At U.P. Open After Saturday Split

OVERVIEW – WINONA STATE/NORTHERN MICHIGAN (U.P. OPEN)

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Winona State Warriors 1 (19-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22) / Northwood 3, Northern Michigan Wildcats 1 (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20)

RECORDS: Northwood 3-1/Winona State 4-0/Northern Michigan 1-3

LOCATION: Northern Michigan University – Marquette, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball finishes 3-1 opening weekend by going 1-1 Saturday (September 2), falling 3-1 to Winona State before defeating host Northern Michigan 3-1.

INSIDE THE MATCH - WINONA STATE

• The match started evenly, with Winona State leading 5-4 early on. The Warriors dominated the remainder of the set, starting with a 10-1 run to go up 15-5. Northwood got no closer than nine the rest of the set, which was won by WS 25-9.
• Winona State started the second fast as well, jumping out to an 8-3 advantage. Northwood cut the lead down to four at 11-7 but were unable to get any closer the rest of the way. WS took the second 25-15 for a 2-0 lead.
• After struggling in the opening two sets, Northwood responded in the third. NU put up five of the first six points and would not allow Winona State to take a lead the rest of the set. The score was tied 12-12 when Northwood put up nine straight points to go up 21-12. The Timberwolves eventually took the set 25-16 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
• WS responded to losing the third with a fast start in the fourth, putting up seven of the first nine points. Northwood was unable to get any closer than four points the rest of the way. Winona State pushed their lead to as many as 13 before taking the fourth 25-15.

MATCH STATS - WINONA STATE

• HITTING: Winona State .271 (48-13-129), Northwood .088 (34-22-137)
• DIGS: Winona State 57, Northwood 52 (MacKelle Thompson – 12)
• BLOCKS: Winona State 11, Northwood 5 (Sydney Hasenfratz – Three)
• ACES: Winona State 4, Northwood 4 (Sophia Oakes – Four)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - WINONA STATE

• Hasenfratz: 11 kills, three blocks
• Olivia Ott: Eight kills
• Renee Brines: 29 assists

INSIDE THE MATCH - NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• NMU held the early advantage in the opening set, scoring six of the first nine points. Northwood responded with four of the next five to tie the score at 7-7. The Timberwolves went up 14-11 and held that lead until the Wildcats came back to tie the score at 20-20. NU was the better team the remainder of the set, eventually winning 25-22 and taking a 1-0 lead in the contest.
• The Timberwolves scored the opening point of the second set and led the rest of the way. Northwood led by as many as nine (20-11) in the set. After NU led 10-6, Northern Michigan got no closer than three the rest of the way. Northwood eventually took the set 25-18 for a 2-0 lead.
• Northern Michigan responded to the 2-0 deficit with a strong performance in the third. The Wildcats scored six of the first nine points and held the lead the rest of the way. After trailing 20-12, Northwood fought back to within three at 23-20 before NMU closed out the third 25-20.
• The fourth set went back-and-forth. Northwood started with four of the first five points for the early advantage. The Wildcats then scored three straight point to tie things at 4-4. The margin stayed below three until the Timberwolves took a 18-14 lead late. The Northwood lead stood at 20-19 when the Timberwolves made a final push, putting up five of the final six points to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

MATCH STATS - NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• HITTING: Northern Michigan .210 (52-23-138), Northwood .305 (47-15-105)
• DIGS: Northern Michigan 36, Northwood 38 (Kiana Martens – 10)
• BLOCKS: Northern Michigan 6, Northwood 8 (Hasenfratz – Five)
• ACES: Northern Michigan 8, Northwood 8 (Maddy House – Three)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• Hasenfratz: 20 kills, five blocks, .567 attack percentage (20-3-30)
• Martens: six kills, three blocks
• Sydney Sweet/Olivia Ott: Six kills each
• Brines: 39 assists

UP NEXT

• Northwood will compete at the UINDY Invitational Friday-Saturday (September 8-9) with matches against Thomas More and Ashland. Match times are 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.