Huskies drop Findlay in three; but edged by Missouri-St.Louis
HAMMOND, Ind. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team split a pair of matches at the 18th annual Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament. The Huskies swept Findlay 3-0 in the morning and fell in five to Missouri-St. Louis in the afternoon.
Michigan Tech, 3 Findlay 0
The Huskies took down Findlay 25-21, 25-23, and 25-23 to begin the day. There were 20 ties and six lead changes in the match, with Tech never trailing in the third set. The Oilers had more kills than the Huskies but surrendered 34 points to the Black and Gold on errors.
“It was an excellent full-team win this morning against a very dangerous Findlay team,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “Our focus this weekend is to be competitive, cohesive, and quality, and we demonstrated all of those qualities in this match. Keeley Nellis was exceptional and made so many saves while also making the routine plays look easy. We will look to continue those themes into the rest of the weekend.”
Rachel Zurek led a balanced offensive attack for Tech with 10 kills. Kayla Heinonen added eight kills and seven digs. Tricia Kennedy (7), Paige Wagner (6), Jacqueline Yancy (5), and Madelynn Kreider (5) also chipped in to the offense. Kreider set the attack with 35 assists. Keeley Nellis led with 17 digs and Amelia Albers added 15.
Missouri-St. Louis 3, Michigan Tech 2
The two teams traded sets. The Tritons were victorious in the first 25-18, third 25-23, and fifth 15-11 to win their 13th straight match. Tech won the second 25-21 and the fourth 25-14.
“The afternoon’s match was another high-quality match where we pushed our opponent to the limit,” added Pindral. “Our overall quality of play was the best it has been all season, and we were focused and mentally tough each point. One of our goals this season is to be peaking at the end of the season, and we proved that we are on the right track today.”
The Huskies had a balanced offense again with four players in double figures. Rachel Zurek led with 15 kills while Paige Wagner (12), Tricia Kennedy (11), and Jacqueline Yancy (10) also put down at least 10 kills. Madelynn Kreider set the offense with 48 assists and led the defense with 17 digs. Keeley Nellis (16), Heinonen (12), and Amelia Albers (12) were also in double figures defensively.
Tech is 10-10 overall and wraps up non-conference play for the season on Saturday against No. 22 Indianapolis at 3 p.m. Eastern to wrap up the Crossover. The Greyhounds split their Friday with a sweep of Parkside and a 3-0 loss to Findlay.
