Husky split on Friday crossover

Hammond, Ind – The Michigan Tech volleyball team split a day at the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament on Friday. The Huskies fell 3-0 at Ashland in the afternoon and won their 13th game of the season 3-2 at Indianapolis.

“What a great way to end a very long day of volleyball,” said Tech coach Matt Jennings. “This afternoon’s game was a tough game against a red-hot Ashland team, but tonight’s game against Indy was a great battle and I’m proud of the way we hung in there. A well-played, hard-fought five-game win was great to see. I really liked our response as we pushed into the fifth set. It was amazing to come out and order at the start of the last set.

“We got a lot of good stuff from our new players in both matches, a big step up for both of them. They took a lot of swings today, scored at a really high clip. Grace and Carissa were great all day as well and led the backfield well with both strong defenses from Grace tonight.” It was amazing, she led a strong team serving for us. The service passing game was a strong point for the win.

“Ashland is a very good team this year, thanks to Coach Kevin and the Eagles. They are experienced, aggressive and make very few mistakes. We had our moments, but we had a hard time responding when Ashland was decent. Meg especially. Good for us in that one.” , it’s the first of two great performances for her.”

Tech wraps up the weekend against Cedarville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets fell to Ferris State (3-0) and Rockhurst (3-1) on Friday.

Ashland 3, Michigan Tech 0

Ashland is hot on the heels of its 15th straight game against the Huskies at 3 p.m. The Eagles won 25-19, 25-21 and 25-14.

The Eagles used an early 6-1 run to take a four-point lead that they extended to seven. They hit .282 and limited the Huskies to .057. There were 11 matches and five lead changes in the second. Ashland scored the final five points to take a 2-0 lead. Meg Rabe had five kills in the second. The Eagles took control late in the third and scored six of the final eight points to clinch the playoff game. Makenna Wesol had four kills for the Huskies in the third.

Meg Rabe led the Black and Gold by hitting .435 with 11 kills and adding six digs. Makenna Wesol (7), Jillian Kuizenga (5) and Kayce Meiners (4) each had at least four kills. Lena Espejo-Ramirez paced the offense with 23 assists and Carissa Beyer had 20 digs.

Michigan Tech 3, Indianapolis 2

Tech took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-18 to the Greyhounds 25-23 and 26-24. The Huskies won the fifth 15-12 to improve to 13-7 overall.

Both of the first two sets had eight ties and four lead changes. Meg Rabe had four kills in the first, including the final point. Tech built a 20-14 lead in the second and Rabe struck again and finished with five kills in the frame.

The third was tight in the second half of the game with neither team leading by more than three points. At 23, the Greyhounds were killed by Sophia Parlanti and then by a vicious pack of Huskies. Rabe once again led Tech with six kills. UIndy tied it in the fourth after an extended set. Tech grabbed match point before four straight points by the Greyhounds to get back at it. Undy got a kill by Grace Hedgwood and blocks by Elizabeth Eads and Alex Ekihua to send it to the fifth. McKenna Wesol had five kills in the fourth.

The teams went five plays early in the third. At 12, the Huskies took the win after a ball-handling error by UIndy, Brooke Dzwick’s ace and Meg Rabe’s kill. Carissa Beyer had seven hits in the fifth.

Meg Raabe hit .322 with a season-high 22 kills. Makenna Wesol had a season-high 17 kills, while Kayce Meiners hit double figures for the first time this season, tying a career high with 10 kills and adding seven blocks.

Lina Espejo-Ramirez paced the offense with 57 assists and nine digs. Carissa Baier paced the defense with 33 digs for her fourth straight 20-dig match. Grace Novotny and Brooke Dizwick each added 15 digs.