Balanced attack for the Huskies
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team earned its third straight sweep, dispatching Purdue Northwest 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-21, 25-15, and 25-21 to improve to 9-7 overall and 5-3 in the GLIAC.
“It was another quality win for us,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “Purdue Northwest is always a scrappy team, and they have a lot of players who have the ability to go off on any given day. I’m proud of our team for stepping up when we needed to, even though I didn’t feel like we played our best.”
The Huskies scored four straight points on the serve of Amelia Albers in the middle of the first set to take a lead. They continued the momentum, building a four-point lead and never looking back. Rachel Zurek put down five kills in the opening set.
Madelyn Elsen served a 5-0 run early in the second to put the home team in front. The Huskies cruised to a 25-15 win after hitting .350 and allowing .038. Tech had five aces and four blocks.
After the break, PNW (2-13, 0-8 GLIAC) led for most of the third, including a 20-16 advantage before the Huskies roared back, scoring nine of the final 10 points to earn the sweep. Kayla Heinonen had six digs, four kills, and three aces in the final frame.
Rachel Zurek finished with a match-high 12 kills. Kayla Heinonen finished with 10 kills, nine digs, and two aces. Tricia Kennedy added seven kills on only 10 attempts. Madelynn Kreider set the attack with 30 digs, and Keely Nellis added 18 digs.
The Lions had five different players with at least five kills. Addison Smith led with 18 assists, and Giana Fayer tallied nine digs.
Tech travels to Parkside and Purdue Northwest next week for the final road weekend before the Midwest Regional Crossover.
