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The Northern Michigan University volleyball team swept its weekend at home after shutting out Tiffin University, 3-0 (25-16, 25-13 and 27-25) on Saturday (Oct. 20) from Vandament Arena. After the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match, NMU now improves to 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the GLIAC.

“We pass served and sided out very well today,” NMU coach Dominic Yoder said. “That’s what kept us in the lead.”

NMU held the lead for the first two sets, winning 25-16 and 25-13. Junior Kalli Herron led the offense with five kills in each set. Junior Lina Lopes had three kills in set one and six in set two. The Wildcats hit a .306 attack percentage in the first set and a dominant .630 in the second. Junior Sarah Hamilton had seven combined kills in the first two sets and two block assists and a block solo in set two. Senior Kalin Zimmerman had a combined 12 digs.

“We switched our lineup a little bit and worked on our blocking scheme this morning,” Yoder added. “I think our team did a really good job. We tried to force them to attack into the center of the floor and allow our middle and floor defenders a chance to keep the ball alive.”

After the break, the ‘Cats won set three in extra points 27-25 to take the match and sweep the Dragons. There were 13 ties and five lead changes. Lopes and freshman Lisa Studnicka had six kills each in the decisive set. Lopes also had five digs while Studnicka and junior Suzanne Solin added four.

Lopes finished with a match-high 15 kills. Herron added 14 and Studnicka, 12. Zimmerman tallied 14 digs, Studnicka added nine, and Lopes and junior Kellisha Harley had eight each. Harley had 50 assists to setup the offense. NMU finished with 56 kills, an attack percentage of .348 and seven team blocks.

The Dragons (7-14 and 1-10 GLIAC) were led by Maureen Kurtz in kills with 12 and Jordan Jenkins in digs with 12. Danielle McQuade added eight kills and seven digs. Tiffany Buchinger tallied 29 assists.

NMU now hits the road for its final road matches of the season. The ‘Cats travel to Grand Valley State and Ferris State next weekend.

“Grand Valley and Ferris are very good teams,” Yoder added. “They’re going to be very important matches. Our confidence is high and we hope to steal one or two wins.”