Kingsford’s Kreider provides spark in fourth set
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team earned a weekend sweep with a 3-1 victory over Parkside on Saturday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-23, 26-24, 25-27, and 25-22 to improve to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC.
“It’s really important to win at home, and we escaped with one today,” Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. “We executed our game plan at the beginning and had to weather the storm later in the match. We had some timely timeouts and were able to rebound in the fourth.”
It was Michigan Tech Volleyball Alumni Weekend as former Huskies in attendance were introduced on the court during the break. The current team and alumni participated in a number of activities throughout the weekend.
“We’ve had a lot of fun with this alumni weekend,” added Pindral. “It’s important to continue to grow this giant family, and it’s been fun for our current student-athletes to gain some perspective from people who have been through exactly what they’re going through now.”
The match had 39 ties and 16 lead changes throughout. The teams traded rallies early in the first and battled back and forth to a 22-all tie. Parkside had the 23-22 lead before the Huskies buried the final three points with a kill by Jacqueline Yancy and back-to-back kills by Rachel Zurek for the 25-23 win. Zurek had six kills in the first set and Yancy added four.
The second set was more of the same with nine ties and a pair of lead changes. Again, tied at 22, the teams traded points to a 24-24 score. The Rangers survived one setpoint after a Rachel Zurek kill but Zurek put down another one that was followed by a Tricia Kennedy kill for the winner and 26-24 win. Zurek and Jacqueline Yancy combined for eight kills in the frame.
Parkside (9-2, 2-2 GLIAC) survived a match point in the third and scored the final three points to win 27-25. Four different Huskies had at least two kills in the third.
The Huskies were down by five midway through the fourth and made a substitution for freshman setter Madelynn Kreider. They promptly scored seven of the next eight points and extended the rally to an 11-3 run. An attacking error gave the Black and Gold match point and Rachel Zurek finished it off with a kill and 25-22 win.
Rachel Zurek tallied 17 kills in the match while Jacqueline Yancy added 16 kills and 17 digs. Madelyn Torola finished with eight kills and Paige Wagner added seven kills and five block assists. Tess Hayes had 39 assists while Madelynn Kreider finished with six. Julia Fledderjohn (19), Alayna Corwin (14), and Madelyn Elsen (11) were also in double figures in digs.
Sam Fisch had a match-high 20 kills for the Rangers. Lucy Russ set the offense with 34 assists and Natalie Harris tallied 33 digs.
Tech heads back on the road next weekend for GLIAC matches at Lake Superior State on Friday and Saginaw Valley State on Saturday.
