Huskies visit Wayne State in GLIAC Quarterfinal Wednesday
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a 3-0 sweep at Lake Superior State on Saturday. The Huskies only trailed once in the match and won 25-16, 25-20, and 25-13 to improve to 16-11 and 10-7 in the GLIAC.
The Huskies are the No. 5 seed in the GLIAC Tournament and will open at No. 4 Wayne State on Wednesday. The Black and Gold have won five of their last six.
“Our goal was to finish the regular season strong and to build momentum heading into the postseason,” Tech coach Matt Jennings said. “I think we did that in part here today. The offense was spread out very nicely and we had some clutch defense at the net and in the backcourt that made a difference.”
Five different Huskies had at least two kills in the opening set. As a team, Tech hit .333 and forced the Lakers into nine errors. Rachel Zurek had the setpoint kill and Meg Raabe put down the winner.
The Lakers (7-20, 2-14 GLIAC) secured the first point of the second set for their only lead in the match, but the Huskies quickly responded and then scored the final six points. Kaycee Meiners had a kill for setpoint and Tess Hayes served an ace for the 2-0 lead at the break. Meiners, Jacqueline Yancy, and Rachel Zurek each put down four kills in the second as the Huskies hit .395.
Tech used a 12-2 run in the third set to take control. Paige Wagner was a force in the third with six kills on eight attempts and also added pair of block assists. She put down the final two kills to seal the victory.
Paige Wagner tallied a match-high 10 kills while hitting .500 and adding three blocks. Meg Raabe notched nine kills, Rachel Zurek had eight kills, and Kaycee Meiners and Jacqueline Yancy chipped in with seven kills. Tess Hayes set the offense with 33 assists. Amelia Albers (14 digs) and Yancy (11 digs) were in double digits defensively.
Tech is in the GLIAC Tournament for the 10th straight season. Other first round matchups are No. 8 Purdue Northwest at No. 1 Ferris State, No. 7 Davenport at No. 2 Grand Valley State, and No. 6 Parkside at No. 3 Northern Michigan.
