Northern Michigan University’s Liesl Haugen receives a serve in the fourth set of a GLIAC match played against Saginaw Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Oct. 4. Haugen was one of three Wildcats honored with a conference weekly award after NMU swept a trio of matches last week. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — While the Northern Michigan University volleyball team has to look ahead as it nears the end of its regular-season schedule, fans can relish in all the honors the Wildcats earned from the GLIAC after a home sweep last weekend that was tacked on after a five-set victory at Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech a couple of days earlier.

Not only did NMU players win some honors, they won them ALL — the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, Setter of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week.

Now the Wildcats look to burnish that sweep and solidify their third-place standing in the league with matches at undefeated Ferris State and at seventh-place Davenport this weekend.

Northern travels to Big Rapids to take on the nation’s No. 1 team in NCAA Division II, Ferris, with its 24-0 overall and 13-0 GLIAC record at 5 p.m. today. Then the Wildcats head further south to Grand Rapids to take on Davenport, which is 9-15 and 5-8, at 6 p.m. Saturday.

NMU is 16-7 overall and 10-3 in the GLIAC, a half-game behind second-place Grand Valley State and a game-and-a-half ahead of 8-4 Wayne State.

One more two-match series follows to end the regular season on Nov. 15 and 16 at 10th-place Lake Superior State and ninth-place Saginaw Valley State, respectively.

Northern has locked up one of eight positions in the postseason tournament, but now is looking toward a top-four home-court spot for the quarterfinals that start in less than two weeks on Nov. 20.

Fans can follow @NMU_Wildcats and @NMU_Volleyball on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during matches, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the volleyball schedule for links to live video, live statistics and series’ previews and histories.

First, though, there’s a matter of honoring the trio of NMU volleyball players for their conference weekly awards.

They start with Jacqueline Smith named Offensive Player of the Week. She had 62 kills in the three NMU victories encompassing 14 sets. That leads off with 28 kills vs. Tech, including the match winner in extra points in the fifth set, then 14 more vs. Purdue Northwest and 20 in another five-setter over Wisconsin-Parkside.

Smith also had a career-high 19 digs at MTU for 47 in all three matches, to go with nine service aces and eight blocks.

Her 28 kills vs. Tech is a single-match high in the GLIAC this season as she now has at least 20 kills in five matches and leads the league with 356 kills.

Sophomore Allie Barlow was named Setter of the Week for the second time this season after she chalked up 147 assists in three matches. That included a GLIAC single-match high of 62 vs. Tech, which is also tied for 13th in the nation all season. She also had 13 kills and 37 digs, double digits in each match that included a season-best 15 vs. Parkside.

Barlow leads the league with 943 assists this season and is second with 40 aces.

Last but certainly not least is sophomore Leisl Haugen earning Defensive Player of the Week. She had 63 digs in the three victories, including a career-best 31 vs. MTU as the team had 97 in all, a league high for teams this fall.

She had 10 digs in the first set alone vs. Tech, with the 31 total second-best all season by a single player.

Haugen tacked on 19 digs vs. Purdue NW and 13 more vs. Parkside for a GLIAC third-best 369 digs this season. She also had 11 assists over the trio of matches.

“I am so proud of all three of these athletes,” Northern head coach Mike Lozier said in an NMU Sports Information release about the honors. “This was a really important week for us, and they all rose to the occasion.

“That win at Tech on Wednesday will no doubt go down as one of the craziest I have been a part of with that huge win, but what is even cooler is all three of them recorded career highs in significant stats.

“To have such an emotionally taxing midweek match, and keep composure during the weekend, was really cool. It is fun for them to get this recognition.”

Earlier this season, Ferris defeated NMU in four sets as the Bulldogs have only lost nine sets all season in their two-dozen matches.

Northern defeated Davenport in four sets when they previously played.

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