Volleyball wraps up weekend with sweep of Crookston

Volleyball wraps up weekend with sweep of Crookston

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 21-ranked Michigan Tech volleyball team wrapped up the Huskies Volleyball Classic Saturday (Sept. 14) with a 3-0 sweep of Minnesota Crookston. The Huskies finished the weekend in St. Cloud 2-2 after taking down the Golden Eagles for the second time this season with scores of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-18.

"We were in control for most of that match and played pretty well on both sides of the ball," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Mac played very well at the pin and set the pace for us offensively. She put together a really solid weekend for the team. Janie and Morgan were on point in the middle and scored points in several different ways throughout the match."

Tech built leads early in the first two sets. The Huskies scored four of the final five points in the first and then eight of the final 10 in the second. UMC led 17-14 in the third set before Tech stormed back, scoring 12 of the final 13 to sweep the Golden Eagles. Nine of the final points came on kills by MacAulay Petersen (5), Janie Grindland (2), Courtney Kurkie, and Anna Jonynas.

"This win was a solid way to end the weekend and pre-conference portion of the schedule," added Jennings. "While we know that there were some missed opportunities, our losses have come to very good teams that are going to continue to win big matches and stay nationally relevant.

"To go 5-3 against the Northern Sun to start the season is pretty good, especially when you consider that big win to begin the year and the tight sets we played in our losses. We're right there and will take a look at these first two weekends, work on what needs to be done to get us prepared to make another run in the GLIAC."

Petersen led a balanced attack for the Huskies with 11 kills. She tallied 23 kills with only four errors over the final two matches. Grindland (7), Olivia Ghormley (6), and Morgan Radtke (6) also had at least five kills. Laura De Marchi set the offense in the first two frames with 27 assists, while Briana Sharkey added eight assists in the third set.

Grace Novotny had her sixth straight match with double-digit digs with a match-high 14 after tallying a career-best 27 on Friday night. Megan Utlak and Jonynas also added 10 digs.

The Huskies are 5-3 on the season and open GLIAC play next weekend at Davenport Friday and Grand Valley State Saturday.