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HAMMOND, Ind. -- The Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team split a pair of matches at the 18th annual Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament, then dropped another Saturday. The Huskies swept Findlay, 3-0, in the morning and fell in five to Missouri-St. Louis in the afternoon. They followed that up with a five-set loss to No. 22 Indianapolis Saturday afternoon.
With the results of the weekend, the Huskies are now 10-11 on the season overall, and remain 5-5 in GLIAC play.
Michigan Tech, 3 Findlay 0
The Huskies took down Findlay, 25-21, 25-23, and 25-23, to begin the day Friday.
There were 20 ties and six lead changes in the match, with Michigan Tech never trailing in the third set. The Oilers had more kills than the Huskies, but surrendered 34 points to the Black and Gold on errors.
“It was an excellent full-team win this morning against a very dangerous Findlay team,” Huskies coach Cindy Pindral said. “Our focus this weekend is to be competitive, cohesive, and quality, and we demonstrated all of those qualities in this match. (Junior libero) Keeley Nellis was exceptional and made so many saves while also making the routine plays look easy. We will look to continue those themes into the rest of the weekend.”
Senior outside hitter Rachel Zurek led a balanced offensive attack for Michigan Tech with 10 kills. Freshman outside hitter Kayla Heinonen added eight kills and seven digs.
Senior middle blocker Tricia Kennedy (7), junior middle blocker Paige Wagner (6), senior outside hitter Jacqueline Yancy (5), and sophomore setter Madelynn Kreider (5) also chipped in to the offense. Kreider set the attack with 35 assists.
Nellis led with 17 digs and senior defensive specialist Amelia Albers added 15.
Missouri-St. Louis 3, Michigan Tech 2
In the second matchup Friday, the two teams involved traded sets. The Tritons were victorious in the first, 25-18, third, 25-23, and fifth, 15-11, to win their 13th straight match. Michigan Tech won the second, 25-21, and the fourth, 25-14.
“The afternoon’s match was another high-quality match where we pushed our opponent to the limit,” added Pindral. “Our overall quality of play was the best it has been all season, and we were focused and mentally tough each point. One of our goals this season is to be peaking at the end of the season, and we proved that we are on the right track today.”
The Huskies had a balanced offense again with four players in double figures.
Zurek led with 15 kills while Wagner (12), Kennedy (11), and Yancy (10) also put down at least 10 kills.
Kreider set the offense with 48 assists and led the defense with 17 digs. Nellis (16), Heinonen (12), and Albers (12) were also in double figures defensively.
Indianapolis 3, Michigan Tech 2
The Huskies team fell 3-2 to No. 22 Indianapolis Saturday to wrap up play at the Crossover. The teams traded sets with the Greyhounds winning 17-15 in the fifth.
“We played an incredible match even though we weren’t able to come out on top,” Pindral said. “We continue to prove that we belong with the big dogs. I’m so proud of our team for being so invested in the process, being responsive to feedback, and bringing a competitive fire every time we step on the court. We will use this weekend as a very positive step leading us into the last segment of conference play.”
Michigan Tech had five more kills than Indianapolis in the first, and Zurek put down seven kills, but the Huskies surrendered 13 points to errors, falling 25-21.
The Black and Gold overcame nine ties and three lead changes in the second to tie the match, 25-23. Kennedy had a pair of late kills, and Zurek led with six kills.
The Greyhounds won 25-22 in the third, before the Huskies forced a fifth with a 25-23 win in the fourth.
In the fifth, Indianapolis got the first match point before back-to-back kills by the Huskies to swing match point to the Black and Gold. The Greyhounds responded with three straight kills to win the match.
Zurek finished with a career and match-high 28 kills while hitting .338. Yancy (11), Kennedy (10), and Heinonen (10) were also in double figures offensively. Kreider set the attack with 56 assists, and Nellis led with 23 digs.
Maddie Lynch tallied 23 kills for the Greyhounds. Carly Fonda had 36 assists, and Grace Portwood registered a match-high 26 digs.
Up next
Michigan Tech gets back to GLIAC action next weekend at Grand Valley State on Friday and Roosevelt on Saturday.