Zurek, Wagner and Heinonen combine for 45 kills
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team pulled off its second reverse sweep in the past three matches, defeating Wayne State 3-2 on Friday evening at the SDC Gym. After falling in the first two sets, the Huskies won 25-16, 25-17 and 18-16 to win their third straight match and improve to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in the GLIAC.
“It was another five-setter for, and I’m sure glad to be on the winning end, even after not playing well over the first two sets,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “Our seniors really stepped up and showed up. The mentality really shifted, and the players took it upon themselves to get the win.”
Trailing 2-0 at the break, the Huskies fought back and didn’t trail over the next two sets. In the third, five different Huskies had at least two kills, and the Black and Gold led by as many as 10. Kayla Heinonen had a kill for setpoint, and Jacqueline Yancy put down the winner.
Tech hit .343 in the fourth. Paige Wagner and Rachel Zurek each put down four kills, and both hit over .500. Wagner made it setpoint with a kill, and Tricia Kennedy added the winner to tie the match.
The fifth set had eight ties and four lead changes. WSU built a 7-4 lead before Coach Pindral called a timeout. The Huskies fought back to tie it at 10. The Warriors fought through two match points by the Huskies and then swung it to 16-15 in favor of the visitors. A serving error tied up followed by an ace by Keeley Nellis for the third match point for the Huskies. Kayla Heinonen then put down the winner, surviving a challenge by WSU.
Rachel Zurek finished with 17 kills to lead the Black and Gold. Paige Wagner added 14 kills while Kayla Heinonen went for 14 kills and 12 digs. Madelynn Kreider set the attack with 57 assists while adding 16 digs. Keeley Nellis tallied a match-high 20 digs.
Katie Smith had a match-high 22 kills for the Warriors. Kayla Dulgar recorded 37 assists, and Lauren Essenpreis added 18 digs.
Tech wraps up the weekend against No. 21 Grand Valley State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to the match. Youth (3-18) wearing a Halloween costume get into the match for just $5, and there will be a youth Halloween costume contest at the break.
The Lakers swept Northern Michigan on Friday in Marquette.
