The Huskies volleyball team (16-8, 10-3 GLIAC) won their sixth and seventh straight matches in GLIAC play this past weekend. They defeated the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (5-19, 3-10 GLIAC) and the Lake Superior State Lakers (3-19, 1-12 GLIAC) on the road by scores of 3-1.
On Friday, Oct. 27, the Huskies opened the first set very strong as they took the early lead going up 10-4 forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout. Tech rolled on to win the first set easily 25-17 on an attack error by SVSU.
The second set was a complete reverse of the first as SVSU took the early 5-1 lead, before the Huskies battled back to tie it up at 6. The Cardinals went up 13-9, but the Huskies clawed back to go up 19-17. The Huskies and Cardinals were tied at 23 each, but a kill for the Cardinals and an attack error on the Huskies gave set two to the Cardinals.
Set three was another back and forth set, as the teams would be deadlocked at 7, before the Cardinals took a 14-9 lead forcing Tech to call a timeout. After the timeout the Huskies would come back to tie it up at 16, before the Cardinals took the lead again 19-17. The Huskies went on an 8-2 run to win set three on an attack error on the Cardinals 25-21.
The fourth set was another close one as the teams would tie it up at 6, before the Cardinals took the 9-7 lead. A kill by Freshman Laura DeMarchi would tie it up at 13, starting a four-point run for the Huskies, forcing SVSU to take a timeout. The Cardinals took the 21-20 lead, before Freshman Olivia Ghormley had a kill for the Huskies to start another four-point run to go up 24-21. MTU took a timeout after a service error made it 24-22 Tech. Following the timeout, DeMarchi set up Sophomore MacAulay Petersen for the match ending kill to win set four 25-22.
Petersen had 14 kills, closely followed by Junior Mariah Sherman with 13 on the day. Senior Elle Heinonen led the Huskies with 23 digs, and DeMarchi had the only block for the Huskies. Tech had six service aces in the match, DeMarchi and Senior Lauren Emmert each had two apiece.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Lakers kept it close to the Huskies at the beginning of the first set making it within one 6-5, but an eight-point run by the Huskies made it 19-9 MTU. The Huskies easily rolled on to win the first set 25-15 on a kill by DeMarchi.
In the second set the Huskies saw themselves go up 12-8 on a kill by Freshman Anna Jonyas. The Lakers battled back to make it 14-12 MTU, but the Huskies went on a four-point run to make it 18-12. Two attack errors on the Lakers secured the second set victory for the Huskies as they won 25-18.
Tech would see themselves go up 6-1 to start the third set, but the Lakers battled back to tie it up at 10 apiece. The Huskies would go up 18-14 on a kill by Ghormley, but an 8-3 run by the Lakers saw the Huskies go down 22-21, forcing a timeout by Tech. The Lakers had two straight kills to take set three from the Huskies 25-23.
The Huskies started set four strong as they would go up 9-3. A four-point run by LSSU made it 9-6 MTU. From there the Huskies steamrolled their way to victory as a kill by Emmert would secure the win for the Huskies 25-16.
Petersen was the only Husky in double digits in the kill category with 15. The Huskies had nine service aces on the day, as four different Huskies had 2 apiece. Heinonen once again led the Huskies with 22 digs in the match. This year’s seniors will finish their careers having never lost to the LSSU Lakers.
Tech ranks eighteenth in the country for team hitting percentage, as they hit over .300 for the eleventh time this season in the LSSU match.
“All week we stressed the importance of taking care of business one set at a time and one match at a time as we enter the late stretch of conference play,” said Tech head coach Matt Jennings. “I think we did a good job of that this weekend in general and I am happy to end the weekend having picked up two conference road wins.”
The Huskies will be on the road again next weekend as they take on arch-rival, the Northern Michigan Wildcats (18-6, 10-3 GLIAC) for a battle in Marquette. The Wildcats defeated the Cardinals and Lakers by scores of 3-0 this past weekend, and are currently on a six-match winning streak.
