Volleyball Game Preview: Northwestern Tigers vs. Barron Golden Bears

Northwestern is 1-9 against Barron since September of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Tigers will face off against the Golden Bears at 7:00 p.m. Northwestern will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.

Northwestern is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They walked away with a 3-1 win over Chetek-Weyerhaeuser.

The final score came out to 25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-16.

Lauren Zifko

Serving Aces

08/28/25 vs Pittsville	1
09/23/25 @ Unity	1
09/27/25 vs Luck	1
10/07/25 vs Spooner	1
09/04/25 vs Superior	2

Northwestern found their leader in sophomore Lauren Zifko, who had 12 digs and three aces. Those three aces set a new season-high mark for Zifko. Genna Kreuser also deserves some recognition as she had her first kill of the season.

Northwestern was lethal from the service line and finished the match with ten aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in 21 consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Barron made easy work of Spooner on Thursday and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win continues a trend for the Golden Bears in their matchups with the Rails: they've now won eight in a row.

Barron's got stronger as the match went on, holding Spooner to fewer and fewer points set over set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-13, 25-11, 25-10.

Northwestern's record now sits at 22-8. As for Barron, their record is now 30-6.

Northwestern came up short against Barron in their previous meeting back in September, falling 3-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Golden Bears' Abby Miller, who had 17 digs and two aces. Now that the Tigers know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.