Michigan Tech’s Brooke Dzwik celebrates a point for the Huskies in match against Northern Michigan Tuesday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

Volleyball handles Cardinals in five

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The Michigan Tech volleyball team wrapped up its regular season road schedule with a five-set win at Saginaw Valley State Saturday. The Huskies came back and won 26-24, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, and 15-9 to improve to 17-9 overall and 9-7 in the GLIAC.

“I’m super proud of the way we hung in there and battled back,” Tech coach Matt Jennings said. “Saginaw’s block was incredible tonight, and that we managed to keep going and finding ways to score speaks to the grit we played with.

“Lindy (Oujiri) and Morgan (Radtke) both came in off the bench and made a huge impact for us out there. What they did is not easy, and we don’t pull this one out with their performance.”

Jillian Kuizenga gave Tech setpoint in the first set with a kill. The Cardinals responded for a 24-all tie. The Huskies took the 1-0 lead after a kill by Radtke made it 25-24 and an attacking error on the home team put Tech up. Kuizenga had six kills in the first.

SVSU led by as many as six in the second and held on late after allowing the Huskies only eight kills. The home team took the lead after the third after edging the Huskies 25-23. Tech had 16 kills in the third but also added 14 errors.

The fourth set had eight ties and four lead changes. Tied at 22, Tech got a kill from Kuizenga and back-to-back kills off the swing of Oujiri to send the match to a fifth. Oujiri came alive with seven kills in the fourth.

Tech built a four-point lead in the fifth set at 9-5. Oujiri stayed hot with three kills down the stretch to lead the Huskies to a 15-9 win and their third five-set win of the season. Meg Raabe added three kills and Morgan Radtke had a pair in the fifth.

Four Huskies had double-digit kills with Kuizenga leading the way with 15 and Oujiri (12), Raabe (11), and Makena Wesol (10) also hitting the mark. Janie Grindland and Radtke combined for 11 kills and five blocks.

Lina Espejo-Ramirez was one short of a Tech career-high with 56 assists and added 11 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Carissa Beyer led the defense with 31 digs while Raabe tallied a season-high 22 digs. Grace Novotny (15) and Brooke Dzwik (13) were also in double figures defensively.

Volleyball falls at Wayne State Friday

DETROIT — The Michigan Tech volleyball team fell 3-0 at Wayne State Friday. The Warriors won 25-20, 25-17, and 25-20.

“Credit to Wayne for playing well and making fewer mistakes than we did tonight,” Jennings said. “It was a disappointing performance, and we’ll look to move on from this one.”

There were four ties and a pair of lead changes in the first. The Warriors led 19-18 and closed the set on a 6-2 run to take a lead. Kuizenga had four kills in the first.

The teams were tied at 12 in the second before a 10-2 run by the home team gave the Warriors a comfortable lead. WSU had four players with at least four kills, hit .220, and held the Huskies to .048, taking a 2-0 lead at the break.

Tech battled back from a four-point deficit to tie the third set at 19. Grindland added a late kill, but the Warriors closed out the match with a 6-1 run.

Kuizenga led the Huskies with nine kills. Wesol and Grindland combined for a dozen kills and Raabe added five. Espejo-Ramirez set the attack with 31 assists. Beyer registered a match-high 26 digs.

Up next

Tech wraps up the regular season at the SDC Gym next weekend, hosting Parkside Friday and Purdue Northwest Saturday.