Volleyball Earns Big 3-1 Win Over Findlay

OVERVIEW – FINDLAY

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Findlay Oilers 1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18)

RECORDS: Northwood 18-7, 9-3 G-MAC / Findlay 18-7, 9-3 G-MAC

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood volleyball earns a key 3-1 win over Findlay Friday night (November 8).

INSIDE THE MATCH                                                                                        

• Findlay was the better team at the start of the match and went up 13-9 midway through the first set. Northwood responded by putting up six of the next seven points to take a 15-14 lead. With the Timberwolves leading 19-17, the Oilers put up the final run of the set, scoring eight of the final nine points to give UF the opener 25-20.
• The Oilers led set two 15-13 when the Timberwolves put up six of the next seven points to take a 19-16 lead. Just like the first set, Northwood led 19-17 late in the second. This time, Northwood was the better team down the stretch, pushing their lead to 24-20 before evening the match at 1-1 overall with 25-20 win.
• The third set was tied 4-4 when NU went on a big run. The Timberwolves scored 10 of the next 12 points to make the score 14-6. Northwood maintained control the rest of the third, not allowing Findlay to get any closer than five the remainder of the way. NU closed out the third 25-16 for a 2-1 match lead.
• Northwood scored the first three points of the fourth set and maintained their lead the rest of the way. The Timberwolves eventually scored eight of the first 10 points of the fourth and did not allow Findlay to get any closer than three the rest of the way. NU finished the match with a 25-18 fourth set victory.

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Findlay .050 (43-35-161), Northwood .197 (45-18-137)
• DIGS: Findlay 56, Northwood 65 (Sophia Oakes – 17)
• BLOCKS: Findlay 6, Northwood 13 (Sydney Hasenfratz – Seven)
• ACES: Findlay 8, Northwood 5 (Oakes – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Hasenfratz: 14 kills, seven blocks, .500 attack percentage (14-1-26)
• Sage Kissman: 12 kills, five digs
• Kiana Martens: Eight kills, 10 digs, ace, five blocks
• Renee Brines: 37 assists, 15 digs, four blocks

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• With the win, Northwood is now tied with Ashland, Findlay and Cedarville in the loss column (three), trailing only Hillsdale (one). Northwood would hold tiebreakers over Ashland and Cedarville, while the tiebreaker against Findlay would depend on how the rest of the season unfolds. The top four teams will host an opening round G-MAC Tournament match November 19.

UP NEXT

• Northwood will host Tiffin for senior day Saturday (November 9). Match time is set for 1 p.m.