Finishing with a flourish: Hawks eliminate Wildcats in straight sets, set up Midwest Regional semifinal showdown with Tritons

QUINCY — With the third set tied at 17 and the Northern Michigan women’s volleyball team validly entertaining the idea it could extend the match, an air of optimism arose.

Moments later, that hope floated away.

Top-seeded Quincy University won eight of the final nine points of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional quarterfinal, moving itself within two victories of an Elite Eight berth with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 sweep of eighth-seeded Northern Michigan on Thursday night at Pepsi Arena.

“It was really sad to see the other team realize, ‘This could be it,’” Quincy senior outside hitter Mattison Norris said. “I can tell you none of us want that clearly. We’re going to do absolutely everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

That means replicating Thursday’s energy against a more traditional foe.

The Hawks (28-2) face fifth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis (22-6) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. The two programs tied for the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title with 11-1 league records, but Quincy won the head-to-head matchup in four sets.

With a senior-laden lineup, the Hawks believe they can maintain their intensity night after night.

“It’s really big that our team has so many veterans,” Norris said. “We have experience, not this kind of experience because I don’t think any of us have been to this ever. But we do have experience with pressure.”

It allows Quincy to stay in the right frame of mind.

“It helps us stay calm under pressure,” senior setter Makyala Knoblauch said. “We know what we’re doing. We have a game plan. We know how everything is going to go.”

It went perfect from the start against the Wildcats.

The Hawks put together a seven-point run on Kailey Reckers’ serve to vault to a 13-3 lead. Norris had two kills during Reckers’ run, while Northern Michigan committed six attack errors in the opening sequence.

“It was awesome to see we were ready to go as soon as we stepped on that court,” QU senior outside hitter Emily Rehagen said. “Sometimes, it takes our team a little bit to get ready, get our feet moving, get going. Tonight, we all wanted it. We were prepared from the second we stepped on that court.”

The Wildcats regrouped and closed to within 19-16, but kills by Norris, freshman middle blocker Alice Pavan and Rehagen stemmed the tide.

Quincy never trailed in the second set, running out to a 16-7 as sophomore outside hitter Emma Wijnbergen had five kills. It wasn’t until the third set Northern Michigan started to shift the momentum, jumping ahead 5-2 and tying the set at 17 on a kill by Lizzy Stark.

“We’ve had matches this year where it feels like we’re always coming back, we’re always trying to play catch-up,” Stark said. “A lot of time this year, it’s falling in our favor. So in timeouts, we were like, ‘We’ve done this before. We’ve been in this position. We can do it. We can come back.’”

However, Quincy won eight of the final nine matches, finishing the match with four consecutive points on Pavan’s serve.

“We could do as many things on our side as well as we’re capable of, but they just are going to have an answer, too,” Northern Michigan’s Madeline Crowley said. “They’re a good team. They don’t make a lot of errors. And they have a great support system behind them in their gym.

“When that all kind of gels together, it seems like they are kind of unstoppable.”

Norris led the Hawks with 15 kills, while Rehagen had 11 as Quincy hit at a .387 clip. Northern Michigan hit just .151 and was blocked 16 times, including six by Pavan. Knoblauch dished out 32 assists and Reckers got to 11 digs.

“We always have an emphasis as a team to get better, no matter what,” Knoblauch said. “Something we did really well — it might have been our highest level — was communicating tonight. We hope to continue that the rest of the tournament.”

Staying intense is the key.

“The intensity tonight was unmatched — from our crowd to our bench to our coaches,” Rehagen said. “Everybody had the mindset that we are making history. We already have, but we’re going as far as we possibly can. Tonight was a big emphasis on that. We’re ready to keep going.”