Northland International University

The second round of the WVC season tournament provided for a tough matchup for the NI men’s volleyball team. The Pioneers needed to play UW-Oshkosh and then turn around and battle UWGB on the same day. “It is what the schedule called for, and we needed to be ready to meet the demands of competition—regardless of who that calls for,” commented Coach Herron. The WVC event was at the Kress Center on the campus of UW-Green Bay on Saturday, February 19. 

The Pioneer’s first match was against the perennial conference powerhouse ‘Titans’ from UW-Oshkosh. In the first two sets, UWO controlled play and dominated action at the net, gaining a five- to seven-point lead in each on the way to 25–21 and 25–13 wins and a 2–0 match lead. Micah Herron, senior captain commented, “The typical Oshkosh confidence showed up, and we did not respond competitively.” In set three Coach Herron switched the line-up and some matchups to better contest the Titan attack. A 16–13 lead was protected up to a 22–15 margin. Andrew Summers blocked a ball, and Justin Delizo put a ball away for a 25–17 win. Set four saw the Pioneer energy continue to a one-point 18–17 lead, which both teams battled for up to a 23–23 tie. NI took a 24–23 lead on a Titan back row error. A Pioneer service error let UWO tie the score at 24–24. The score was tied four more times up to a 28–28 tie. A Titan hitting error and a Micah Herron kill gave the set to NI at 30–28. The deciding set (#5) began in the Titans’ favor with a 10–7 lead. NI battled and closed it to 9–11. A series of missed digs and hitting errors gave the set and match to UWO 15–11. Coach Herron was satisfied with the comeback, and the team was disappointed about the loss.Micah Herron and Stephen Yates led the NI attack with 11 and 9 kills each. Andrew Schilling had 37 assists.   

Match two for the day saw the home team Phoenix from UWGB ready to play against NI. The  Pioneers were prepped for play and took set one, 25–16. Set two was close up to a 20–21 deficit for the Pioneers. NI could not sideout or score another point, and they lost 20–25. Set three had UWGB take a three- to four-point lead and a 22–16 score. The NI offense did not provide enough of a challenge, and the Phoenix converted easy swings for a 25–19 win. Set four had NI push a 17–14 lead in a concerted effort. Attacks by Andrew Summers and Stephen Yates got a 23-21 lead for NI. Poor serve receive and a lack of attack saw NI outscored 1–5 the remainder of the set, and the Pioneers lost by a score of 24–26.Coach Herron commented at the end of the day, “For the most part when we play, we overachieve. When we do underachieve in matches, our lack of size, skill, and strength is escalated and we lose close matches. Pressure does different things to different players: for some it is a potion for success, and for others it is a poison causing stress and resulting failure. We have a couple of spots we need to reinforce.”