Volleyball Splits Friday at Crossover Tournament; Hart Passes 1000th Career Dig

AURORA, Ill. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team competed in day one of the 10^th annual Midwest Region Crossover Tournament inside the Great Lakes Center. The Huskies swept Bellarmine 3-0 in their early match and fell 3-0 to Drury in the late game. 

"Today was a pretty good day overall," said head coach Matt Jennings.  "We played two good teams and to come away with a split is not a bad thing. We played especially well this morning. The second match wasn't our best performance, but we know what we need to do differently tomorrow, and I'm confident that we will bounce back."

Halie Hart jumped a major milestone in her career, recording her 1000^th dig as a defensive specialist during the match vs. Bellarmine. She contributed six digs and two assists in the first match.

"Halie is a great player and in her four years as a Husky, has done an incredible amount for her team," said Jennings. "We're simply a better team because of Halie's contributions and hard work."

Michigan Tech 3, Bellarmine 0

Tech played a poised match against the Bellarmine Knights winning all three sets (25-16, 25-18 and 25-22) and wrapping up their fourth straight win in a row. The Huskies totaled 44 kills with a .337 attack percentage.

"Our offense was very good in this one, and I thought Laura set a really nice match," Jennings said. "Olivia and Mac were solid at the pins and our middles were very strong on both sides of the ball."

Laura DeMarchi set the Tech offense with 36 assists while adding five digs, two kills and a block. DeMarchi, ranked fifth in assists per set at 11.91 in the NCAA Division II standings, leads the GLIAC in the same category. 

The Black and Gold were led offensively by Olivia Ghormley (13 kills and a solo block), MacAulay Petersen (10 kills) and Lauren Emmert (eight kills and four blocks). Elle Heinonen (14 digs) carried the defense, followed by Hart (six digs).

Drury 3, Michigan Tech 0

The Huskies fought hard through all three sets, but the Drury Panthers edged past for the 3-0 victory (25-21, 27-25 and 25-23).

"This was a tough one," Jennings added. "I'm proud of the fight we put up considering we didn't seem to be playing all that well overall. We seemed a little hesitant in the back row and made a few mistakes at critical points in the set. Our ball control was a bit off, which is usually one of our strengths, and it put a lot of pressure on our outsides to score."

Mariah Sherman led the offense with 10 kills and three blocks. Stephanie Dietrich tallied nine kills with zero errors and had two solo blocks and two block assists. Petersen tallied eight kills, while Ghormley and Emmert added seven each. DeMarchi chipped in 37 assists and 16 digs. Heinonen recorded double-digit digs with a team high of 21.

"Again, our middles were on fire and kept us going all match long," added Jennings. "We just couldn't get them the ball as much as we would have liked."

The Huskies face Findlay Saturday (Oct. 14) at 2 p.m. to wrap up the crossover tournament. The Huskies are looking to capitalize on their rematch with the Oilers, as they dropped a tight five-setter to them while at the Hillsdale Tournament in September.