Huskies defeat Davenport, Ghormley hits 1,000 points

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team opened GLIAC play with a 3-1 win at Davenport Friday (Sept. 20). The Huskies improved to 6-3 overall with scores 27-25, 24-26, 25-19, and 25-16. Olivia Ghormley notched her 1,000th career point in the victory.

"We're very happy to have started off conference play with a road win," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "They're not easy to come by in this league and Davenport really pushed us. Their block was very strong, but we kept battling and came through with a lot of big points and finally pulled away."

The two teams were tied at the break before the Huskies controlled the later stages of the third set to gain the momentum. Tied up at 17, Tech scored nine of the final 11 points to take the 2-1 lead after a 25-19 win. MacAulay Petersen had three kills on the run and Anna Jonynas added a pair.

In the fourth set, the Huskies again took control late after leading 15-13. Olivia Ghormley served four straight points with two service aces. Petersen had two kills and Rachel Ping added one as the Black and Gold scored 10 of the final 13 points to win 25-19 and the match 3-1.

Petersen had 18 kills on the evening while hitting .432. Ghormley led the Huskies with 19 kills and added nine digs. Jonynas tallied nine kills and nine digs. Laura De Marchi set the offense with 50 assists and added 17 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.

"Mac was exceptional tonight and was really hard to stop at the net," added Jennings. "She mixed up her shots very well and really had some pop behind the ball in her swings. Laura set a good game and got our middles going at the right times later in the match. Emilia came through big for us on both sides of the ball, especially in sets three and four."

Emilia Widen added seven kills on only 17 attempts and added three blocks at the net. Megan Utlak hit the 20-dig mark for the second time on the season with 23 while adding seven assists. Grace Novotny tallied 13 digs.

Ghormley tallied 323.5 points as a freshman, 542 as a sophomore, and 141 so far this season for 1,006.5. She is also inching towards 1,000 career kills and currently stands at 948.

There were five lead changes in the first set. The Huskies had set point at 24-23. A pair of errors put the home team at set point. Kills by Ghormley and Jonynas and a bad set by the Panthers put Tech up 1-0.

Tech climbed out to a 13-5 lead in the second. Davenport climbed back in at 22-18 and then scored eight of the final 10 points to win 26-24 and tie the match, heading into the break.

"We're going to get back at it tomorrow against Grand Valley, a great program and a team that can beat anyone," Jennings said.

First serve at the GVSU Fieldhouse is set for 4 p.m. The Lakers fell in five to Northern Michigan Friday.