Defeats SW Oklahoma St; Swept by Tritons
LEBANON, Ill. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday at the McKendree Invitational to begin the 2025 campaign. The Huskies fell 3-0 in their morning match to Missouri-St. Louis but then bounced back with a 3-1 comeback victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State.
“Overall, I’m happy with the way that we played today as our first day out,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “We learned a lot about ourselves and got a lot of different players in the matches.
“Our first match was a tough one against a veteran team in UMSL, but we battled hard and played relatively clean, just had some trouble scoring. In match two, we had a slow start but settled into a solid lineup by the second set and were able to roll. So many players showed up in various ways, and I’m very happy with our debut. I’m looking forward to continuing our momentum tomorrow!”
Missouri-St. Louis 3, Michigan Tech 0
The Tritons edged the Huskies in three tight sets 25-21, 25-20, and 25-21. The match had 18 ties, including nine in the first set, and eight different lead changes.
Brynn Erickson led a balanced Tech offense with 10 kills. Rachel Zurek and Brooke Dzwik had eight kills each, while Paige Wagner added seven and hit .700. Tess Hayes set the offense with 27 assists, and Julia Fledderjohn had a team-high 18 digs.
UMSL had three players with double-digit kills while hitting .324 as a team.
Michigan Tech 3, Southwestern Oklahoma State 1
The Huskies earned their first win of the season, and the first career win for head coach Cindy Pindral, in the afternoon match. In their first-ever match up, Tech defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-1, taking the final three sets 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16.
Brooke Dzwik led the match with a career-high 16 kills while also added 12 digs. Jacqueline Yancy tallied 15 kills and 10 digs while Rachel Zurek added 10 kills. Tess Hayes finished with 47 assists and nine digs. Amelia Albers and Julia Fledderjohn combined for 22 digs.
“Julia was very good today at libero and kept us in system well,” added Pindral. “She brings so much leadership and poise to the lineup and backs it up with quality ball control and show-stopping defense.
“Brooke was solid at the outside hitter position and provided us with a lot of quality kills and consistent serve receive. She had a breakout day, and I’m excited to see her improve over the season.”
Tech wraps up the weekend on Saturday against tournament host McKendree. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern at Melvin Price Convocation Center.
