Northern Michigan Upsets CS Bakersfield : Volleyball: Top-ranked Roadrunners lose in four games as Wildcats win second consecutive Division II title.

It was fitting that Pauline Schuette made the winning kill to give Northern Michigan its second consecutive NCAA Division II volleyball title.

Not the best-known threat on the team, she was the one who made the difference in the title match as Northern Michigan defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 8-15, 15-13, 15-8, 15-13, for the championship at Bakersfield on Monday night.

Schuette had nine kills in the first three games of the match, but she had 13 in the fourth game.

Bakersfield’s All-American outside hitter, Christie Wieneke, nearly brought the Roadrunners back by herself with 30 kills--14 in the last game. Five of those came as Bakersfield turned back 12 match-point opportunities by Northern Michigan.

“I knew what it would feel like if that ball hit the floor, so I was going to do everything I could not to lose. If I was going to lose, I was going to lose swinging,” Wieneke said.

Things started off well for Wieneke and Bakersfield (41-3), but Northern Michigan turned it around quickly.

In the first game, Bakersfield came out with crisp passing and a defense that disrupted Northern Michigan’s game. Wieneke spiked through two blockers several times to help the Roadrunners build an 11-4 lead.

But in the second game, Wieneke was shut down. She was five of five in kill attempts in the first game, but the Wildcats decided to key on her. In the second game, she had six kills in 18 attempts with four errors. Northern Michigan was down, 7-1, but put together a string of nine consecutive points before winning.

Bakersfield still did not adjust in the third game. Northern Michigan’s Jennie Long got hot and the Wildcats won the easiest game.

The match was a rematch of last year’s Division II final, but there were a few differences.

Last year, Mark Rosen’s Bakersfield team was the nation’s second-ranked team and was played at top-ranked Northern Michigan’s gym. Northern Michigan won the 1993 final in four games.

This year, Rosen coached fourth-ranked Northern Michigan, which earned a chance to play top-ranked Bakersfield at the Cal State Bakersfield Activities Center by defeating Central Missouri in three games Sunday.

Carl Ferreira had led Bakersfield to a No. 1 ranking all season, with its only losses coming against Division I opponents. Bakersfield won the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title for the fifth consecutive season.

In the third-place game, Northern Colorado defeated Central Missouri, 15-11, 15-8, 15-10.