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HAMMOND, Ind. -- With a pair of losses over the weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team fell to 9-9 overall and 5-5 in GLIAC play. They fell in three sets to Wisconsin-Parkside Friday and followed that up with their sixth five-set loss this season, this time to Purdue Northwest.
The Huskies are in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference after the tough weekend.
Huskies fall in five at Purdue Northwest Saturday
The Huskies fell 3-2 at Purdue Northwest Saturday afternoon. The Huskies won the second and third sets, but fell 15-9 in the fifth.
“We battled hard, but weren’t able to execute for long enough stretches to pull this one out,” Huskies coach Cindy Pindral said. “We will turn our attention to putting forth a strong showing at the Crossover next week.”
Purdue Northwest used a 10-4 run in the first set to take command. The Lions hit .306 and won 25-16 to take the lead.
Michigan Tech responded in the second and won 25-20. The Huskies broke a 17-all tie, scoring five straight points to take the late lead. The Black and Gold hit .371, and three different players had at least three kills, with senior outside hitter Rachel Zurek leading with four.
The Huskies took a 2-1 lead after winning 25-21 in the third. Zurek stayed hot with eight kills in the third.
The Lions forced a fifth after winning 25-18. They never trailed in the frame and hit .312.
In the fifth, Purdue Northwest built a five-point lead and never looked back, winning 15-9.
Zurek finished with a match-high 21 kills. Senior outside hitter Jacqueline Yancy added 11 kills, and freshman outside hitter Kayla Heinonen tallied nine. Sophomore setter Madelynn Kreider set the attack with 42 assists. Junior libero Keeley Nellis led with 20 digs.
Five different Lions had double-digit kills and were led by Anika Huelskamp with 16. Addison Smith set 50 assists. Cecelia Goode and Giana Frayer led with 19 digs.
Huskies fall at Parkside Friday
KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Huskies fell 3-0 at Wisconsin-Parkside Friday. The Rangers won 25-22, 25-19, and 25-19 to end a three-match winning streak by the Huskies.
The first set had 10 ties and four lead changes. The Rangers used a 7-1 run to take control. Heinonen had three late kills, but Avary Polavin put down seven kills in the opening set to prime the home team to the lead.
Parkside (12-5, 5-4 GLIAC) never trailed in the second. Four different Huskies had at least two kills, but the Rangers forced the Black and Gold into 12 errors and took a 2-0 lead at the break.
in the third, Emily Zaper served nine straight to get the Rangers into a lead that the Huskies couldn’t recover from. Polavin had five kills to lead the home team in the third.
Heinonen led the Huskies with 10 kills on the night while also adding 10 digs. Yancy added six kills. Kreider set the attack with 21 assists, and Nellis led with 17 digs.
Polavin had a match-high 15 kills for the Rangers. Lucy Russ tallied 17 assists, and Natalie Harris added 17 digs.
Up next
Michigan Tech travels back to Hammond next weekend for the 18th annual Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament. The Huskies will play three non-conference matches.