HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team had its four-match winning streak snapped after a 3-2 loss to Northern Michigan on Thursday at the SDC Gym. The Wildcats took the non-conference contest 24-26, 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, and 15-11.
 
"We have to be more well-rounded," Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. "We can't rely on just a few players or one specific area to do the work for us. It seemed like we took our foot off the gas in that second set, and there's no team that wants to beat us more than Northern.
 
"We have an important match on Sunday. It'll be very untraditional travel, but we have to move on and rebound from tonight."
 
The Huskies jumped out to the lead after a 26-24 win in set one that saw eight ties and three lead changes. Jacqueline Yancy and Rachel Zurek each had eight kills in the opening frame. Yancy twice got it to setpoint, and then Paige Wagner had a solo block for the final point.
 
NMU (6-9, 4-2 GLIAC) knotted it up in the second, 25-19 after never trailing. The Wildcats used a 5-1 run in the middle part of the set to get the cushion they needed. Kaylie McIntosh had five kills in the set.
 
Northern carried the momentum out of the break and took a 2-1 lead after winning the third 25-18. The visitors didn't trail for the second straight set.
 
Tech forced game five after winning 25-22 in the fourth. The Huskies played well in the late stages of the third and carried the energy into the fourth, leading by as many as six. NMU made a late rally, staving off a pair of setpoints before Paige Wagner put down the winner. Madelyn Torola had six kills in the fourth.
 
The fifth set had four ties and three lead changes. Tech led 9-5 before NMU rallied with a 5-0 run and then finished the match on a 10-2 rally to win the set 15-11.
 
Madelyn Torola tallied a season-best 18 kills while hitting .341. Rachel Zurek also had 18 kills, while Paige Wagner added nine kills and five blocks. Tess Hayes recorded 27 assists and Madelynn Kreider added 23. Julia Fledderjohn led with 28 digs.
 
Kylie McIntosh had a match-high 19 kills while three other Wildcats had double-digit kills. Allie Barlow tallied 57 assists, and Liesl Haugen notched 38 digs.
 
Tech is now 7-7 overall and 4-2 in the GLIAC and travels to Purdue Northwest Sunday. First serve between the Huskies and Pride is set for a 3 p.m. Eastern in the only meeting of the season.