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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team opened its weekend at the Mountain Lion Classic with a five-set loss to the tournament host, the Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions. Trailing 2-0 after the first two sets, the Huskies won sets three and four to force the fifth, before the hosts won 15-10 in the final frame.
“We put up a good fight against a tough team that was in-system for most of the match,” Huskies coach Cindy Pindral said after competing against her alma mater. “We didn’t really find our groove until about set three, but I’m proud of the way that we never gave up and continued to battle even when we weren’t feeling our best.”
Sisters Amelia and Charlette Albers faced off. Amelia, a senior defensive specialist for the Huskies, while Charlette is a sophomore setter for the Mountain Lions.
The match had 33 ties and 13 lead changes.
Michigan Tech held a setpoint in the opening frame, before Colorado Springs scored four of the final five points for a 27-25 win. Senior outside hitter Rachel Zurek had six kills in the set.
The home team built a sizeable lead in the second set after hitting .542 to win 25-13.
There were 12 ties and six lead changes in the third. Knotted at 22, the Huskies got a pair of blocks by freshman outside hitter Reagan Lesley and senior middle blocker Tricia Kennedy and a kill by freshman outside hitter Kayla Heinonen to keep the match alive, 25-23. Zurek tallied six kills again.
Michigan Tech led most of the fourth and forced its third five-set match of the season after a 25-21 win. Lesley was the spark with four kills on six attacks while adding a pair of digs.
Colorado Springs never trailed in the fifth and won their second match of the season.
Zurek finished with 17 kills to lead the Huskies offensively. Heinonen added 11 kills and nine digs. Junior middle blocker Paige Wagner also had double-digit kills with 10.
Sophomore setter Madelynn Kreider tallied 37 assists and 17 digs. Junior libero Keeley Nellis (18) and Albers (11) also had double-digit digs.
Payton Tompkins had a match-high 18 kills, Charlette Albers set the attack with 23 assists, and Alysse Marcoso had 32 digs.