EVANSTON -- The No. 19 Michigan volleyball team couldn't survive a mid-game injury to junior outside hitter Alex Hunt, dropping the season finale in four sets to Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.

The Wolverines came out strong in the first set on Saturday, never falling behind and ultimately winning, 25-15.

But the Wildcats (9-11 Big Ten, 19-12 overall) rebounded, taking the next three sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) in quick fashion to win, 3-1.

“I thought we came out in game one and played really well," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said after the game. "I thought that everything was rolling pretty good and ... we were playing and had good balance to our offense. I thought that we were controlling the ball really well, we were serving really tough.”

But Michigan lost its momentum and tempo heading into the second set. The difference, according to Rosen, was a lack of ball control and an out-of-balance offense.

It was clear that the Wolverines (12-8, 23-9) were severely crippled when Hunt left the match due to injury midway through the third set.

"When Hunt got hurt then everything kind of got crazy," Rosen said. "She is a pretty big part of our team and things just started breaking down. We fought hard we just didn’t fight very well.”

Three players — Hunt, freshman middle blocker Jennifer Cross, and freshman outside hitter Lexi Erwin — had double-digit kills. Cross led the attack with 13 kills, followed by Erwin with 12 and Hunt with 10.

Although the Wolverines amassed a total of 57 kills, they also had an overwhelming 27 attack errors, giving them a .207 attack percentage. On the other end of the court, Northwestern played a technically sound match, finishing with a .343 attack percentage.

But it wasn't only the attack that posed problems for the Michigan squad. While the team had six service aces, they also had seven service errors.

Senior setter Lexi Zimmerman had 43 assists in her final regular-season match as a Wolverine. She also tallied 10 digs and seven kills.

While the game did not go as well as hoped for the Michigan team, it finished the season with 12 victories, the same as the previous two seasons.

During the NCAA selection show on Sunday, the Wolverines were selected to face Washington in the Seattle Regional. They will head west to play the Huskies this Thursday.

“The NCAA Tournament is single-elimination tournament, so now it is just your goal is to advance," Rosen said. "You’ve got to work every single match and try and advance to the next round. Depending on how Alex is, and what her health is going to be like, we have got a lot of things to figure out this week, depending on where we go and who we play to have a chance to try and be successful in the first match.”