Volleyball Open Their Home Schedule With 3-1 Win Over Hillsdale

The Northwood University volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over Hillsdale Tuesday night (October 1).

The match was the home opener for the Timberwolves, who have now won 14 straight home matches.  NU improves to 8-5 overall, 3-2 in the GLIAC.  Hillsdale falls to 5-8 overall, 2-3 in the GLIAC.

Northwood jumped out fast in the opening set, scoring seven of the first eight points of the match.  But Hillsdale fought back, eventually tying the score at 9-9. With the score tied 12-12, the Timberwolves earned four straight points to take a lead they would not give up the rest of the set.  Northwood hit .233 in the set (15-5-43) while Hillsdale finished at .122 (12-7-41).

Hillsdale was the better team in the second set, hitting .258 (12-4-31) while holding Northwood to a .061 mark (13-10-49). The Chargers took the lead for good at 7-6 and held off a late NU rally to even the match 1-1.

Northwood's blocking came up big in the third set.  The Timberwolves registered six blocks en route to holding Hillsdale to a -.152 hitting percentage (5-10-33).  NU scored seven of the final eight points to earn a 2-1 lead.

It appeared the Timberwolves were ready to finish the match off late in the fourth set thanks to a 24-21 lead.  But Hillsdale fought back, scoring four straight points to earn a set point of their own at 25-24.  The Chargers had a pair of set points, only to see Northwood earn the final three points of the match and the overall victory. The Timberwolves had their best offensive set of the match, finishing with a .311 attack percentage (19-5-45).

Overall, Northwood hit .197 (59-25-173) for the match, compared to Hillsdale at .103 (42-27-145).  Both teams blocked well in the match – Hillsdale finished with 16 while Northwood totaled 14.

Leading the way for Northwood was senior outside hitter Juliia Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine). The current GLIAC North Division Player of the Week, Pakhomenko registered a career-high 31 kills in the match.  She hit .355 overall (31-9-62) to go with eight digs, three blocks and two aces. Cassandra Marsh (Maumee, Ohio) and Krysta Kramer (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) each had seven kills.  Jordan Dunn (Bowling Green, Ohio) had 49 assists and 15 digs. Elizabeth Barker (Williamsburg, Ind./Northeastern) registered a match-high 21 digs.

Northwood will host Walsh Friday night (October 4).  Match time is set for 7 p.m.