Zurek paces Huskies with 20 kills
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team fell 3-1 to No. 18 Ferris State on Saturday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won the first set 26-24 before the Bulldogs won 25-22, 25-20, and 25-17.
“It was a tough loss today, but we played well overall and will rebound for our last home stand coming up,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “We fought hard but couldn’t quite sustain earning our own points for long enough stretches to knock off a quality team.”
The Huskies overcame a six-point hole in the first set, finishing on an 8-1 run to take the lead. A kill by Brooke Dzwik gave Tech its second setpoint lead, and then she followed it up with an ace for the winner. Rachel Zurek had five kills in the first set.
Ferris (20-6, 12-3 GLIAC) evened it up in the second, overcoming seven ties and a pair of lead changes. The Bulldogs got a block for setpoint followed by a kill by Emily May. Tech had more kills than FSU in the second but also had more errors.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the third after five players had at least two kills, and they also hit .469. Emily May had seven kills on seven attempts.
Tech held leads early in the fourth before Ferris turned it on late, scoring 10 of the last 12 points to seal the win. The Bulldogs again hit over .300.
Rachel Zurek tallied a match-high 20 kills and hit .364. Paige Wagner added 10 kills and three blocks. Madelynn Kreider set the offense with 43 assists while also adding 15 digs. Julia Fledderjohn led the Huskies with 21 digs.
“Rachel had another great performance and scored a ton of points for us while providing good serve receive and defense,” added Pindral. “Paige was hot in the middle and provided quality net play. Julia had a ton of digs and played tough defense.”
Tech is 10-15 overall and 7-7 in the GLIAC and wraps up the regular season next weekend at home. The Huskies host Saginaw Valley State on Friday at 5 p.m. at the SDC Gym. LSSU is the final opponent on Saturday at 2 p.m.
