Volleyball Falls to No. 21 Ferris State Friday

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team fell in a close 3-1 match at No. 21 Ferris State on Friday night inside FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

The Huskies won set three 25-23 but fell 26-23 and 25-22 in the first two frames and 25-21 in the fourth. FSU—who won its 15th straight match—earned the win by only nine combined points.

"What an exciting match," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Both teams played very well. A few too many untimely errors were costly, but I truly feel like we outplayed them for much of the match. I was very pleased with how we came back in that first set and the toughness we displayed as a team throughout."

Stephanie Dietrich pounded down 14 kills to lead the Huskies while hitting .458. Lauren Emmert (13), Aubrey Ficek (12), and MacAulay Petersen (10) also got into double figure kills in a balanced attack.

Rachel Pohlod set the offense with 48 assists while adding 18 digs. Elle Heinonen also tallied 18 digs, and Courtney Kurkie finished with 11 digs and six kills.

"Steph was outstanding and was a huge part of our offense's success," added Jennings. "Rachel had us rolling and executed our game plan well. Courtney and MacAulay were particularly strong on the pins, and Elle was once again solid in the back row."

The Huskies wrap-up the weekend at Grand Valley State Saturday for the final road regular season match. The Lakers defeated Northern Michigan 3-1 on Friday to move into a tie for second place in the GLIAC North Division. Tech is a game back in fourth.

"We're playing with a lot of confidence right now and more together than at any point this season," said Jennings. "We need to keep it going for tomorrow at Grand Valley and into next week starting with Northern on Tuesday."

First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Huskies then head home to wrap-up the regular season, beginning Tuesday at 7 p.m. against NMU.