Less than 24 hours after sweeping Winona State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball on Friday, the Wolves had a repeat performance against Upper Iowa University. Northern swept Upper Iowa on Saturday afternoon by scores of 27-25, 25-21, 25-23.
"The first set was a side-out battle," said NSU coach Brent Aldridge. "They had some quick sets and we were getting touches with our block. We had leads of four points here and there. We would lose momentum, but we kept our composure. When it got tight, we made plays."
In the third set, the Wolves built a slight lead, but let the Peacocks back in the match.
"We passed at a real high level. Ella (Campbell) had another great match defensively. Kelsey Chambers hit good. She had a few errors, but she was taking big swings on the outside," said Aldridge.
Chambers finished with 14 kills and eight digs.
The set and match ended on two straight kills by freshman Cari McGarvie.
"Cari hasn't been playing much, but she came in and had the last two kills when the game was tight. We had a freshman (Drew Smith) setting her. I couldn't be more proud. It's a long weekend for us, but it gets longer if you don't play well," said Aldridge.
Kaleinani Kabalis led a balanced hitting attack with 15 kills. Chelsea Chavez added nine kills followed by McGarvie and Macey Finizio with seven each. Smith finished with 52 set assists. Campbell had 16 digs.
Northern State completes a five-match road schedule on Tuesday with an NSIC match at Minnesota State Moorhead at 7 p.m.
"The biggest thing is to continue to play well," said Aldridge. "I like how we're competing right now. Early in the year, panic would set in, but I think we're better at thinking that we've been here before and we can get the big play."
Serving: Northern 4 aces (Macey Finizio 2 aces, Chelsea Chavez 1 ace, Ella Campbell 1 ace); Upper Iowa 2 aces (Kayla Wagner 1 ace, Danielle Gernes 1 ace).
Hitting: Northern 101-122 52 kills (Kaleinani Kabalis 34-40 15 kills, Kelsey Chambers 21-25 14 kills, Chavez 13-17 9 kills, Cari McGarvie 8-11 7 kills, Finizio 25-29 7 kills); Upper Iowa 94-110 41 kills (Melanie Behnke 23-28 13 kills, Jennifer Mundt 25-30 9 kills, Wagner 13-15 7 kills).
Setting: Northern 52 assists (Drew Smith 52 assists); Upper Iowa 41 assists (Skylar Lesan 36 assists).
Digs: Northern 50 (Campbell 16, Kabalis 11, Smith 8, Chambers 8); Upper Iowa 47 (Gernes 13, Emily Sparks 9, Amanda Weiss 8).
Blocks: Northern 4 assists (Chambers 2 assists); Upper Iowa 1 solo 16 assists (Wagner 1 solo 3 assists, Maryn Fulton 5 assists).
Records: Northern State 11-8, 6-5 NSIC; Upper Iowa 12-8, 6-5 NSIC.