The Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team earned a win on Friday over Davenport and then lost at Grand Valley State Saturday to come away with another split. With the weekend completed, the Huskies are 11-13 overall and 7-6 in GLIAC play, which has then tied for fourth with Davenport.

HUSKIES SWEEP PANTHERS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Huskies swept Davenport Friday to avenge an early season loss to the Panthers. The Huskies won 25-18, 25-16, and 27-25.

“That was a big win for the Huskies,” Huskies coach Matt Jennings said. “I’m really happy with the way we played overall and how so many parts of our game made a difference in this one. Our backcourt stepped up here tonight and gave us what we needed. We won the serve pass game, which was a big goal for us going into the match. Our blocking was clutch, our serving was strong, and we made good use of their errors.

“Our pins were solid all match long, Meg (Raabe) had a particularly strong match, she was pretty unstoppable those first two sets and came up clutch in the final set.”

Tech went on a 12-0 run in the middle of the first set to take a commanding 18-8 lead. The Huskies hit .351 in the opening frame and Raabe led with seven kills. Raabe put down a kill for setpoint and Rachel Zurek put down the winner–her third kill of the set.

The Huskies had a 7-1 run in the second to take a 19-11 lead and the teams traded points until Tech took the 2-0 lead at the break. Lindy Oujiri got hot in the second with five kills. Kaycee Meiners was a force at the net with a pair of solo blocks and a block assist.

There were seven ties and three lead changes in the third. The Panthers came back from three different five-point deficits. The home team had setpoint before Oujiri answered with a kill to extend it. Davenport had an attack error and then the Huskies turned back to the senior captain, and Oujiri delivered with the match-clinching kill as part of a five-kill set.

Raabe led the Huskies with 14 kills and hit .314, while Oujiri finished with 11 kills. Tess Hayes set the offense with 36 assists. Amelia Albers (16 digs), Alayna Corwin (10 digs), and Brooke Dzwik (10 digs) were in double figures defensively.

HUSKIES FALL IN FOUR TO LAKERS

ALLENDALE, Mich. — The Huskies fell 3-1 at Grand Valley State Saturday. The Lakers won 25-20, 21-25, 25-19, and 25-20 to improve to 19-3 overall and 11-2 in the GLIAC.

“We’re just so close to turning the big corner as a group,” Jennings said. “Our inconsistency in the backcourt seems to be a real thorn in our side and I feel it cost us here again today. Our offense was good enough at times today to give us a real shot. Kaycee and Lindy more than did their jobs here in this one. We just didn’t make it hard enough for them to score and were way too tentative in serve receive again.”

The teams battled through seven ties and three lead changes in the first before GVSU used a 6-0 run to take a 23-17 lead. The Huskies got three points after a pair of errors on the home team and a kill by Hayes but five different Lakers had at least two kills and the home team led after one.

The Huskies responded in the second with a 25-21 win to tie it up going into the break. The Lakers committed 14 attack errors in the second. Tech finished the frame on a 8-2 run with Zurek making the setpoint kill and Kaycee Meiners hitting down the winner. Four different Huskies had at least a pair of kills.

GVSU never trailed in the third to retake the lead. Zurek and Oujiri combined for eight kills but Jordyn Gates put down nine kills for the home team and the Lakers hit .395 in the 25-19 win.

The teams traded runs in the fourth set. The Black and Gold led 14-13 before GVSU went on a 6-1 run to take the lead for good. Points went back and forth until back-to-back kills by Meghan O’Sullivan gave the home team the win.

Oujiri led the Huskies with 15 kills and hit .342. Meiners finished with 11 kills and four block assists while hitting .474. Zurek (9 kills) and Raabe (7 kills) were also key on the offense while Tess Hayes set the attack with 39 assists. Albers was in double figures for the ninth straight match with 17 digs. Corwin added 11 digs.

UP NEXT

Tech has a quick turnaround and wraps up its three-and-a-half-week road trip at Northern Michigan on Tuesday.

“We survived the weekend with a big win and a hard-fought loss, but now it’s time to move on and get ready for a showdown in Marquette on Tuesday,” added Jennings.

The Halloween evening match begins at 6:30 p.m. at Vandamanet Arena. FOX-UP will televise the game locally.