Northern Michigan University’s Jacqueline Smith, top, slams a kill attempt as teammate McKenzie Gruner watches during a Wildcats’ home match at Vandament Arena in the 2023 season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MANKATO, Minn. — The Northern Michigan University volleyball team made good in a marathon weekend to open its season at the Maverick Invitational held at Minnesota State-Mankato.

The Wildcats played four matches over two days, winning three of them against opposition from Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. Twice they swept to 3-0 victories, then split a pair of five-set matches to open the campaign with a 3-1 record.

NMU has three more nonconference matches this week before jumping into its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule on the road the weekend of Sept. 20-21.

This week, Northern hosts former GLIAC member Findlay at 5 p.m. Thursday, then travels to Houghton for matches against Minnesota-Duluth at 3 p.m. Friday and vs. St. Cloud State at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Findlay match will be the much-anticipated reopening of an expanded Vandament Arena with a rededication set for 3 p.m. that includes a reception before the match two hours later.

Here is a rundown from the matches in Mankato, Minnesota:

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NMU 3, Minnesota State-Moorhead 0

On Friday morning, the Wildcats opened the Maverick Invite with a 26-24, 25-21, 25-15 victory.

Four-time All-GLIAC First Team selection and senior Jacqueline Smith led Northern’s offense with 14 kills while adding eight digs, two service aces, a block and two assists. She had 10 kills in the second set alone.

Teammates Meghan Meyer and Kaysie Bakke had seven kills apiece and McKenzie Gruner and Helen Beiring six each as NMU hit at a .277 clip, well ahead of Moorhead’s .150 percentage. Those were also career-high kills for Bakke and Beiring, both sophomores.

“This (match) was a great start to the season and really set the tone,” Smith said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the match. “It was so fun being able to compete as one team and see the carryover from our preseason.”

Meyer also had two blocks, while Liesl Haugen led the Wildcats with 18 digs as Caylie Barlage had 13. Haugen and Allie Barlow led NMU with three aces apiece as Barlow also had 34 assists.

Northern took control from the outset, racing to a 7-1 lead in the first set as Haugen made aces on three of the last four points in that run.

Moorhead made a bit of a run in the middle of the set, though NMU kept its lead throughout until the Dragons tied it 24-24 with four straight points. But the Wildcats then got back-to-back kills from Bakke and Smith to seal the result.

Moorhead turned the tables early in the second set, racing to a 3-0 advantage before Northern went on a 5-1 run to go up 9-7. Smith had three kills in that spurt.

The teams were never more than two points apart until the Wildcats used an 8-1 run to make it 22-16. Smith had three more kills in that run, with Bakke, Meyer and Gruner adding one apiece.

While the Dragons scored three straight to pull within 24-21, Beiring made a set-ending kill.

After some back and forth to start the third set, NMU used a 12-3 string to go ahead 15-7. During that time, Moorhead committed six errors, but Meyer, Bakke, Barlow, Smith and Gruner all had a kill while Barlow had an ace.

Northern kept Moorhead at arm’s length until it could rattle off the final four points of the match that included back-to-back aces by Barlow to seal the result.

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NMU 3, Truman State 2

On Friday evening, NMU jumped out early but had to survive, 25-20, 25-22, 14-25, 25-27, 15-13.

Smith posted a career-high 27 kills in this marathon match, making just nine errors for a .295 attack percentage. She also had 17 digs, two aces and two blocks.

The fifth-year senior’s previous high was 25 kills she made in 2022 against Grand Valley State, and her Friday night total included 10 in the fourth set, the second time on the same day she had that double digits in a single set.

Haugen led the Wildcats with 19 digs, adding five assists, while Bakke made nine kills and Gruner eight kills to go with a team-high four blocks.

“I am incredibly proud of the guts the team showed, especially when momentum was not on our side,” NMU coach Mike Lozier said in an NMU SI news release. ‘The players on the bench were giving so much energy and willing the team to victory.

“Finally, I need to give a shoutout to Jacqui. Unbelievable performance. Stepped up when we needed her.”

Like in their morning match, the Wildcats jumped out quickly, taking a 5-1 lead in the first set that included kills by Beiring and Gruner.

NMU used another 6-1 run to re-establish a 14-8 lead with kills by Barlow, Smith and Meyer. But Truman kept creeping closer until Northern’s lead was down to 23-20. That’s when kills by Barlow and Gruner ended the set.

The Bulldogs then scored the first six points of Set 2, though NMU’s own 5-0 run tied it 9-9, then 10-10 and 11-11. The Northern run included three straight kills by Smith.

The teams traded runs later in the set to leave them tied 18-18, 19-19 and 20-20, but the Wildcats rattled off four straight points, including kills by Smith and Madison York, and ended the set with the win off a kill by Gruner.

Truman State got desperate and won the next two sets to force the race-to-15 fifth and final set.

In the third, the Bulldogs scored the first three points and led throughout, not letting NMU get closer than 16-9 in its later stages.

In the fourth, Northern held a small lead until Truman went on a 6-1 run to go ahead 20-19. They traded points until NMU led 25-24 on Smith’s 10th kill of the set, which was her third point in a row for the Wildcats.

But Truman used back-to-back kills by Michaela Goad and a Northern attack error to end the set and even the match 2-2.

NMU took quick control in the fifth set, racing to a 7-1 edge as Smith had four kills and Sydney Bartels an ace. The Bulldogs got back in it with a 5-0 run to pull within 9-8. Each team’s 3-0 run left Northern ahead 13-12 before they traded service errors and Bakke made a match-ending kill.

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NMU 3, Upper Iowa 0

On Saturday morning, the Wildcats picked right up where they left off Friday, winning 25-23, 25-16, 25-21.

In a more routine match, Smith had just 10 kills, but that led the team in this three-set match as Meyer added nine and Gruner six.

Smith also had a block, ace and assist, while Gruner had two blocks, Barlage five aces and Mayer three aces. Digs were also well spread out as Haugen had 11 and Barlage and Allie Barlow 10 each.

“I’m proud of how we came together as a team and took care of business,” Meyer said in an NMU SI release. “We knew what we had to do and we did it.

“It is exciting to see our potential now knowing that we have things we need to improve on.”

The tough opening set featured no runs of more than three points by NMU as it led early before Upper Iowa used a 6-1 run to tie it 15-15. There were six more ties after that, the final one 23-23 before kills by Meyer and Bakke ended the set.

Northern took control in the second set, using an 8-1 run to go up 10-4 as Barlage had three aces and Beiring and Bakke each a kill.

After the Peacocks scored three straight to pull within 14-11, NMU reeled off six in a row to put things out of reach, especially by trading points down the stretch capped off by a Meyer kill to end this set.

UIU actually scored the first four points of the third and led 11-5 before the Wildcats scored four in a row off a pair of Smith kills to tighten things up. Soon after, a 5-1 run gave Northern a 14-13 lead, while a finishing 5-2 flourish ended the match on a Smith kill.

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Minnesota State-Mankato 3, NMU 2

On Saturday afternoon, the host Mavericks tagged Northern with its first loss, Mankato winning 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-14, 15-6.

Smith led the Wildcats’ offense for the fourth straight match, this time making 17 kills to go with 18 digs and a block.

Meyer and Bakke each had nine kills, Haugen 23 digs and Barlow 45 assists.

NMU overcame an early deficit in the first set with an 8-2 run to go ahead 11-9, Meyer making three kills and Smith two in the run.

Soon after, five straight points made it 16-11 with Gruner and Smith getting a kill and the Mavericks committing three errors.

Northern kept the lead the rest of the way, finishing the set with consecutive kills by Smith and Barlow.

Mankato took control early in the second set, 7-2, though four straight by NMU got it within 10-9 as Smith had two kills and Gruner one.

The Mavs took control immediately after that with a 7-2 spurt and Northern never got closer than four points the rest of the set.

NMU jumped all over Mankato in the third, taking leads of 5-0 and 19-8 before the Mavericks came back to within 24-20 before Meyer made a set-ending kill.

The Wildcats now led 2-1 and could end the match in the fourth set. But Mankato knew that too and took control in the middle of the set while never allowing NMU to score more than two points in a row.

The Mavs’ 8-4 lead ballooned to 22-12 before a Northern service error ended it.

About the same could be said about the fifth set, where Mankato jumped out to a 6-1 lead and NMU only scored back-to-back points once, both on Mavs’ errors. A Toryn Richards kill finished off the Wildcats.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.