Michigan Tech’s Carissa Beyer celebrates a point with teammates Lina Espejo-Ramirez (10) and Brooke Dzwik (6) during a match against Purdue Northwest Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With a 3-1 win over the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on Friday and a 3-0 sweep over the Purdue Northwest Pride Saturday, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team closed out the regular season with a pair of wins at the SDC Gym.

Seniors chip in as Huskies sweep Pride

Saturday, the Huskies got contributions from all seven of their seniors as they closed out the regular season with a 3-0 win over the Pride, 25-12, 25-20, 25-12.

Except for a tough stretch late in the second set, the Huskies did what they were looking to do, play well enough to win, and even have some fun honoring their seniors. Huskies coach Matt Jennings felt that his team did what it wanted to do.

“We were having a great time today,” said Jennings after the match. “We got everyone engaged and active. This team is a lot of fun. They have a great relationship with one another. They are hilarious, and hardworking, at the same time.”

Fifth-year defensive specialist Grace Novotny had a chance to chip-in early in the match as the Huskies jumped out to an early 9-1 lead in the first set. She picked up an ace during that initial run, and later found herself on the floor in the front line with the score at 14-6.

Getting a pass from senior setter Lina Espejo-Ramirez, Novotny elevated and connected with the ball for a kill from the left side.

She joked that the reason she had a chance to play was due to an injury to senior right side hitter Jillian Kuizenga.

“It was really, really fun,” said Novotny. “I’ve been asking coach all week if I could. Jill hurt her chin doing the warmup, so I got the chance to stay in.”

If Kuizenga was hurting, she still chipped in seven kills for the match.

Novotny chipped in with two more aces early in the second set, before fifth-year middle blocker Janie Grindland racked up five of her nine kills in the set.

Playing her last game at the SDC Gym was surreal for Grindland.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said. “The Pep Band always brings energy and brings some laughs, brings fun. I love having community members come out. Little Huskies, it’s great to see their smiling faces in the crowd. There’s no better feeling than playing for a packed gym.”

In the third set, the Huskies jumped out to a 11-2 lead and never looked back from there. Freshman outside hitter Meg Raabe had five of her match-leading 10 kills in the set as the Huskies closed the match strong.

Huskies defeat Parkside in four sets

On Friday, the Huskies needed four sets to defeat the Rangers, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17, and 25-19.

Statistically, the Huskies were dominant. Freshman outside hitter Meg Raabe had 22 kills to lead all attackers. Senior right side hitter Jillian Kuizenga had 11 kills, as did freshman outside hitter Makena Wesol. Three Huskies, Raabe, senior middle blocker Morgan Radtke, and senior middle blocker Janie Grindland all hit over .300 while getting at least six kills.

The Huskies also had six aces and seven blocks, and held the Rangers to under .200 hitting in all but one set, but still found themselves fighting for their lives until they finished things off in the fourth set.

Michigan Tech trailed in that fourth set, 6-1, before drawing themselves back in, one point at a time.

“The tendency to feel like you need to get all back on one swing often just compounds the situation in a negative way,” said Jennings. “I think that’s actually kind of what the reminder was, in that timeout early was, ‘Hey, we’re not going to get this all back at once. We’ve just got to chip away at it and it starts with ball control.’ Once our ball control improves, our offense comes along with it.”

Raabe had 10 kills in the first two sets and 12 more over the remainder of the match. She also saw the bulk of serves from the Rangers, who served at her 35 times over the course of the match. She successfully handled 32 of those serves.

The young outside hitter is still learning what it means to play all six rotations.

“I feel like I signed up for it, being a freshman in serve-receive, so I knew it was coming to me,” she said. “Obviously, it was really mental for me, but that’s where I turned to my teammates. Carissa (Beyer) did a really good job of just pumping me up, just the ‘we’ve got you’ mentality really pushed me through.”

Raabe’s six kills in the first set were enough to help keep the Huskies in control throughout the set once the Huskies gained the lead at 8-7.

In the second set, the Rangers found ways to block her, which helped them earn the set victory. Kuizenga rattled off four kills in quick succession to turn a 22-18 deficit into a one-point one at 24-23, but they could not finish things off before the Rangers closed the set win.

Kuizenga and Raabe continued to be key parts of the Huskies’ bounce back over the final two sets. Wesol also chipped in heavily in the third set.

“Just, as a team, we kind of dug deep and started to focus on each play as it was happening, instead of the big picture,” Kuizenga said. “I think sometimes you can get a little above everything. It’s important in those moments to remember to dig deep.”

Up next

The Huskies travel to Detroit Wednesday to face the Wayne State Warriors, who beat the Huskies on Friday, Oct. 28, 3-0. The Huskies did defeat the Warriors in Houghton on Saturday, Oct. 8, 3-0.