Renee Brines Reaches The 4,000 Assist Milestone In 3-2 Loss At Tiffin

OVERVIEW – TIFFIN

SCORE: Tiffin Dragons 3, Northwood Timberwolves 2 (25-19, 25-17, 26-28, 22-25, 15-13)

RECORDS: Northwood 11-13, 6-9 G-MAC | Tiffin 11-13, 6-9 G-MAC

LOCATION: Gillmour Center – Tiffin, Ohio

RECAP: Senior setter Renee Brines reaches the 4,000-assist milestone in Northwood volleyball's 3-2 loss to Tiffin Saturday afternoon (November 15), during which the Timberwolves clinched the final spot in the Great Midwest Tournament.

INSIDE THE MATCH

• Coming off an upset 3-2 win over Hillsdale Friday night, Tiffin came out fast in the opening set. The Dragons scored seven of the first 10 points. Northwood eventually cut the advantage down to 17-16 but were unable to level the score at any point. TU scored four of the final five points to take the opener 25-19.
• Tiffin kept the momentum going early in the second, putting up five of the first six points. Northwood did not lead at any point and trailed by as many as 10 before the Dragons earned the set 25-17.
• The third set was vital for the postseason chances for each team. With Northwood's 3-0 win at home against the Dragons earlier this season, Tiffin needed to win today's match against Northwood 3-0 for TU to have a chance to win a potential tiebreaker. Northwood took their first lead of the day at 2-1 in the third and went on to score six of the first nine points of the frame. The Timberwolves held a 16-11 lead when the Dragons fought back, eventually tying the score at 19-19. Each team had set points before the third was decided – NU led 24-23 and 26-25 while TU held a 25-24 advantage. With the score tied 26-26, Northwood put up the final two points to take the set 28-26 and clinch a position in the G-MAC Tournament.
• The Timberwolves flipped the script on the first two sets of the day in the fourth, leading from 3-2 on to level the match. NU led by as many as six the rest of the set before winning 25-22 to force a fifth set.
• Set five was close throughout – two points was the largest lead for either side. Tiffin held a 13-11 lead when Northwood scored two straight to level the score. TU earned the final two points to close out the match 15-13.

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Tiffin .314 (82-23-188), Northwood .241 (58-17-170)
• DIGS: Tiffin 84, Northwood 71 (Laney Kokaly – 15)
• BLOCKS: Tiffin 7, Northwood 6 (Soleil Allen/Dani Pohl – Three)
• ACES: Tiffin 7, Northwood 9 (Mackenzie Scheid – Four each)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Pohl: 12 kills, three blocks, .417 attack percentage (12-2-24)
• Sage Kissman/Olivia Nester: 11 kills each
• Scheid: 10 kills, four aces
• Renee Brines: 41 assists, six kills, 11 digs

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• With her fifth assist in the match, Brines became just the fourth player in Northwood volleyball history to reach 4,000 for her career. She is the first Northwood player to reach the milestone in 24 years and ranks 10th among all active Division II volleyball players. She now has 4,036 assists for her career.

UP NEXT

• Northwood is the eighth seed for the Great Midwest Volleyball Tournament. The Timberwolves will travel to top-seeded Cedarville Tuesday night (November 18). Match time is set for 7 p.m.