Michigan Tech right side hitter Madelyn Torola attempts a spike during a match against Roosevelt Friday at the SDC Gym. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — In their home opener Friday night, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team saw the first career start of freshman right side hitter Madelyn Torola, and yet another new position for junior right side hitter Rachel Zurek combine to help the Huskies roll to a 3-0 win over the visiting Roosevelt Lakers at the SDC Gym.

The Huskies won the first set 25-10, then battled to a 25-20 win in the second set, before cruising to a 25-10 win in the third set.

For Michigan Tech, getting home was something they really needed.

“Absolutely wonderful,” said Zurek, when asked about how it felt to finally be home. “Every time the Pep Band comes out for the first time, it’s always so huge, because they’re all new, and they just bring the best energy in the gym ever.”

First-year head coach Cindy Pindral was also making her home debut, and she was happy with how her team responded to the opportunity to showcase themselves.

“I thought it was a very well-played match,” she said. “I’m very proud of our team for coming out as hot as we did. We had a good game plan, and most of it was on our side. We’ve had a tough week in practice in the sense of really working on our side, being smooth, really emphasizing the quality of our first touch.

“I’m very glad that we were able to execute in the second set. We were tested. That happens all the time. As teams play for half an hour or so, you start to figure each other out a little bit. So, they started to get our number, but when times got a little bit tight, we stayed poised and we stayed resilient. I’m glad that we were able to make a push at the end to close it out.”

Zurek (9) and Torola (7) combined for 15 kills in the match. Zurek had a run of four straight kills in the late stages of the second set that turned a 19-19 tie into a 23-19 lead and control at that point. Sophomore middle blocker Paige Wagner added an ace and the Huskies found themselves in position to close out the set, which they did two serves later on an error by the Lakers.

Zurek praised the play of junior setter Tess Hayes, who finished with 35 assists in the match, as a big reason why she was able to find some consistent success.

“I think (it was) just Tess and getting our passes to Tess,” Zurek said. “It was all just clicking for us. We struggled there a little bit towards the middle of the second set, when we were just getting in a rut. They were going on a run. But, as soon as our energy gets back into play, it’s just like, bang, bang.”

Wagner had one ace and one error in 14 serves and she added five kills along with a block and three block assists.

“Paige has an excellent serve, and usually you don’t think of middles as having very impactful serves, but she does,” Pindral said. “She plays really good defense, too. So, Paige was a spark plug back there.”

The Huskies fell behind in the first set 4-1 and 6-2, but Torola’s first career kill at home set things in motion for the Huskies, who scored 23 of the next 27 points to win the set.

“It was obviously very nerve-wracking,” said Torola. “It was the first home game, and first start for me, so I was very nervous. But, as soon as I got that first kill, all the nerves were gone.”

The Calumet native was proud to finally don the Black and Gold.

“It means a lot more to me, for sure,” she said. “Being here, being part of the culture, it means a lot more to me.

“I’ve watched them play growing up, so it’s super fun being on this side of it.”

Junior outside hitter Jacqueline Yancy led the Huskies with 12 kills in the match. Four of those came in the final set, which helped give the Huskies a 10-point advantage at 18-8.

Pindral has been working Yancy into all six rotations, and she feels the Huskies are finally starting to settle into a lineup they can trust.

“We’re getting more and more consistent with the lineup, which is nice,” Pindral said. “Jackie’s a very good passer. She has naturally really good angles, and she plays good defense, as well. So, it’s a luxury to have a six-rotation outside in Jackie, and I hope that she continues the momentum that she’s building.”

Pindral also felt that the Huskies earning the win on Friday helped shake off a tough weekend last weekend on the road.

“Yeah, it’s a little bit of a monkey off our backs,” she said. “The two losses last weekend, as well as we played against Ferris (State), it was still a loss. Then, Davenport was disappointing. That’s OK. But, it was kind of a relief, ‘All right, let’s get this out of our system, remind ourselves that we are a very quality volleyball team, and we can go in good directions from here.'”

Huskies volleyball takes down Parkside Saturday

The Huskies earned a weekend sweep with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin-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,” 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. The Rangers had the 23-22 lead before the Huskies buried the final three points with a kill by Yancy and back-to-back kills by 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 Zurek kill but Zurek put down another one that was followed by a junior middle blocker Tricia Kennedy kill for the winner and 26-24 win. Zurek and Yancy combined for eight kills in the frame.

The Rangers (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 Zurek finished it off with a kill and 25-22 win.

Zurek tallied 17 kills in the match while Yancy added 16 kills and 17 digs. Torola finished with eight kills and Wagner added seven kills and five block assists. Hayes had 39 assists while Kreider finished with six. Fifth-year libero Julia Fledderjohn (19), fifth-year defensive specialis Alayna Corwin (14), and sophomore defensive specialis 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.

Up next

The Huskies head back on the road next weekend for GLIAC matches at Lake Superior State on Friday and Saginaw Valley State on Saturday.