The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team earned a season-opening split on Friday at the Ferris State Invitational in Big Rapids, Mich.
– The Bearcats (1-1) fell to Northern Michigan in the season opener, 3-2, but rebounded to beat Grand Valley State, 3-1, in the afternoon session.
Match One Key Statistics (Northern Michigan 3, Northwest 2)
– Northern Michigan won the first set, 25-15, but Northwest battled back to win the second, 25-21. After the Wildcats took a tough 25-23 third set, the Bearcats forced a fourth set with a 25-23 victory.
– In the final set, Northern Michigan rallied off six straight points to take the match with a 15-7 win.
– Maddy Bruder had 11 kills with nine digs and two blocks.
– Freshman Morgan Lewis had 10 kills and a team-high five blocks.
– Sofia Schleppenbach had 10 kills and four blocks.
– Olivia Nowakowski had 18 digs with a pair of service aces and two assists.
– Sarah Dannettell had 23 assists and nine digs.
– Jordyn Musselman added 18 assists with eight digs and a service ace.
Match One Key Sequence
– Tied at 19-19 in the fourth set, Northwest rallied with four-straight points. After a pair of Wildcat errors, Nowakowski got a service ace to drop and Alexis Williams had a kill off a Dannettell assist. After a timeout and a Northern Michigan point, Williams gave the Bearcats set point with a kill to make it 24-20. The Wildcats would go on a quick 3-0 run to pull within one, 24-23. After a Northwest timeout, Taylor Linenberger put away the set with a kill from Dannettell.
Match Two Key Statistics (Northwest 3, Grand Valley State 1)
– After dropping the first set to the Laker, 25-20, the Bearcats rebounded to win the next three by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20.
– Darcy Sunderman had a team-high 11 kills, hitting .323 for the match. She added 14 digs with a pair of blocks and a service ace.
– Schleppenbach had nine kills with three blocks and two digs.
– Dannettell had 20 assists with eight digs and a service ace.
– Nowakowski had a match-high 23 digs with three assists and a service ace.
– Bruder had seven kills with 13 digs and a block.
– Linenberger had nine kills with three digs and a pair of blocks.
Match Two Key Sequences
– Grand Valley took a 22-21 lead in the second and was looked to take a two set lead. But the Bearcats battled back and closed on a 4-0 run to even the match. After a service error by the Lakers, Sunderman came up with a kill and Northwest forced a GVSU attacking error. On set point, Sunderman put away a kill off a Dannettell assist.
– In the fourth set, Northwest trailed by two late, 20-18. Sunderman and Williams each put away kills to even the match, 20-20. A Laker attacking error forced a GVSU timeout with the Bearcats leading, 21-20. Out of the break, Grand Valley had a bad set to make it 22-20 and Williams made it a 23-20 game with a kill. Williams and Schleppenbach then came up with blocks on back-to-back points to give Northwest the set and the match.
Up Next
– The Ferris State Invitational concludes on Saturday. Northwest will face Davenport University at 9 a.m. CST and then will face host Ferris State at 1 p.m.
— Northwest Athletics —