Raabe with a season-high 24 kills
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team earned its third straight win with a five-set thriller over Saginaw Valley State on Saturday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies improved to 8-5 overall and 4-2 in the GLIAC after winning the final two sets 25-14 and 15-13.
“I’m glad we were able to push through. Our team plays with a lot of ups and downs naturally and everything slowly came together as the sets went on,” Meg Raabe said.
The match took two hours and 17 minutes and had 30 ties and 18 lead changes. The Huskies trailed 13-11 in the fifth before turning to junior outside hitter Meg Raabe to complete the comeback and get the win. She hammered down four straight kills to send the SDC Gym into a frenzy.
Raabe finished with a season-high 24 kills, including eight kills in the fifth set alone. She hit .351 and added four digs and a block.
“It really came together those last few points,” Raabe said. “I’ve been working through some things this year and haven’t played as much backrow, but I’ve been able to focus more on the front row. I think today it was fueled by anger. I want to keep that setter connection with Tess as we continue into the GLIAC season.”
SVSU won 25-23 in the first after hitting .344 and getting three aces and three blocks. Tech tied it in the second 27-25, surviving a two of set points and benefited from a pair of hitting errors down the stretch. Meg Raabe had seven kills in the second.
The Cardinals again took the lead after the third, 25-22, but the Huskies absolutely dominated the fourth 25-14 to send it to a fifth. In the fourth, Tech hit .391 and forced the visitors into 15 errors. Rachel Zurek racked up five kills in the fourth.
“It was a tough game but I’m glad we pulled it through,” said Zurek. “This is a huge win going into Northern next week. Saginaw is a good team. They’ve been putting in the work.”
Rachel Zurek tallied 14 kills and added a pair of blocks. Paige Wagner added 11 kills while Jacqueline Yancy tallied seven kills and eight digs. Tess Hayes set the attack with 50 digs and led the Huskies with 23 digs. Alayna Corwin added 15 digs and eight assists. Brynn Erickson (15) and Brooke Dzwik (14) also added double-digit digs.
Tech travels to Northern Michigan on Thursday at 6:30 pm on FOX UP before hosting Roosevelt on Saturday back at the SDC Gym.
