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PAINESVILLE, OH -- Courtesy:  NMU

The Northern Michigan volleyball rebounded after a disappointing loss yesterday to Ashland, to sweep Lake Erie Saturday afternoon (Sept. 17) 3-0.

The ‘Cats took the match 25-18, 25-18 and 25-16.  With the win, NMU improves 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while Lake Erie falls to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the GLIAC.

The ‘Cats opened the match on fire, leading the Storm early on by nine, 12-3.  Lake Erie fought back but could not erase the early gap, falling 25-18.

The second set saw Lake Erie take a lead at the midway point, leading 12-11 before NMU scored four straight points and gained the set’s momentum, taking the set 25-18.

NMU continued its dominance in the third and final set, taking an early 5-1 lead and never looking back en route to a commanding 25-16 set and match victory.

The ‘Cats were led offensively by senior Emma Wolfe with 11 kills, Lina Lopes with 10 kills and Sarah Hamilton with 8 kills.  Freshman Kaitlyn Hoffman established the NMU offense with 32 assists. Defensively, Becca Feuerherd led the ‘Cats with 14 digs.

The Storm was led by Molly Richardson with four kills and four digs.  The Lake Erie defensive front was led by Krista O’Connor with six digs.

After struggling to hit during the first set, NMU rebounded to hit .303 and .433 during the remaining two sets respectively.

The ‘Cats led a majority of the statistical categories during the afternoon, including a 38-17 advantage on kills and six team blocks compared to the three for Lake Erie.

NMU continues their road swing next weekend taking on Upper Peninsula foe Lake Superior State Friday (Sept. 23) at 7 p.m. and Northwood on Saturday (Sept. 24) at 4 p.m.