The UW-Parkside volleyball team earned a split of its two matches at the Mizuno GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament on Friday in Aurora, IL. The Rangers were swept in the first match by eighth-ranked Hillsdale College (15-25, 19-25, 23-25) before responding with a five-set win over Northwood University (25-21, 25-18, 25-27, 17-25, 15-11). Parkside is now 11-10 on the year with one match remaining at the tournament.
 
Hillsdale Box Score
 
The Rangers were limited to just 31 kills in the opening match against Hillsdale with 15 coming off the arm of Addie Kramer. Hillsdale controlled the first two sets of the match before the Rangers made it interesting late in the third.
 
Hillsdale again built a big lead at 20-10 in search of the sweep but the Rangers made a strong charge and nearly stole the set. A 13-4 run got Parkside within a point of the lead at 24-23. Cayla Flood had two aces (six in the match) to help key the run. Unfortunately the Chargers ended the rally with a kill by Clara Leutheuser for the 25-23 win.
 
The Rangers hit .170 for the match. They also finished with six blocks.
 
Northwood   Box Score
 
Parkside was boosted by the return of Bridget Nickel and Stacie Bower who played sparingly in the morning match. The duo, along with the serving prowess of Flood, helped lead the Rangers to their fifth, five set victory of the season.
 
Nickel bolstered the offensive attack with a season-high 20 kills. Bower returned to provide 25 digs for the defense.
 
The teams were even for much of the opening set before Parkside pulled away late. Leading 18-17, the Rangers scored seven of the final 11 points to snatch game one. Nickel had three kills late including the clincher to break a run of six straight sets lost.
 
Game two was tied at 15 before the Rangers went on a surge and seemingly took control of the match. Flood had three consecutive aces to build a four point lead. Caroline Langer added two kills and the Rangers had a 2-0 lead.
 
Northwood answered back however and claimed the next two sets to force a deciding game. The Timberwolves pulled out a nip-and-tuck third set before rolling in the fourth to even things up.
 
The fifth set proved to be the most exciting. Despite being a race to just 15 points, the set featured 11 ties and six lead changes before Parkside finally finished things off.
 
Neither team led by more than one point until the set was tied at 11 and Parkside scored the final four. Nickel slammed home two straight balls to make it 13-11. And then it was Flood once again who delivered two straight aces to clinch the victory and put the Rangers back above .500. The last ace was the 99th of Flood's career, third on the all-time list.
 
Parkside will finish off their play at the Crossover with one match on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers will take on Wayne State University at 1:00 p.m. in Aurora.