Bulldogs are stubborn about letting other teams score
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team fell 3-0 to the nation’s top-ranked team, Ferris State, on Friday at the SDC Gym. The Bulldogs won 25-19, 25-16, and 25-18 to improve to 12-0. Tech fell to 5-6 on the season.
“We had a good game plan and executed well in practice all week, but they’re the number one team in the nation for a reason,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “Our defense was pretty good tonight, but they just wouldn’t allow us to score. We gave ourselves a chance early in each set, but they’re relentless in their attack.”
Tech held leads in all three sets. There were six ties and three lead changes in the first. The Bulldogs hit .406 in the opening frame and led in kills 15-8 to take the lead. Paige Wagner had four kills on seven attempts, but Gabby Piazza put down six kills for the visitors.
FSU outscored the Huskies 11-2 down the stretch of the second set after seven early ties. The Bulldogs again hit over .400, and Piazza recorded six kills. Paige Wagner, Rachel Zurek, and Tricia Kennedy all tallied three kills for Tech.
The Huskies led 5-1 early in the third before the Bulldogs fought back to tie it at nine. They slowly built the lead to seven points and never turned back, working in 12 different players. Piazza continued her dominance with nine kills in the third.
Paige Wagner led the Huskies with eight kills. Rachel Zurek and Tricia Kennedy added seven kills each. Madelynn Kreider set the offense with 24 assists. Keeley Nellis led the defense with 14 digs, while Kayla Heinonen added 12 digs.
Gabby Piazza tallied 21 kills for the Bulldogs. Hayley Wegener registered 36 assists, and Hope Davies finished with 23 digs.
Tech wraps up the weekend on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Davenport. Volleyball alumni in attendance will be introduced at the break.
