Huskies sweep Pride on Senior Day Saturday Play Video

Huskies sweep Pride on Senior Day Saturday

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team swept Purdue Northwest 3-0 Saturday on Senior Day at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-12, 25-20, and 25-12 to finish the regular season 19-9 overall and 11-7 in the GLIAC.

"It was a great way to honor our seniors and finish our regular season," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "All seven of them bring individual accomplishments and impact to the program. The quality of person we talk about in these seven is outstanding. They've been part of a lot of success, and I'm grateful for what they've done for the program and for me as their coach."

Seniors Carissa Beyer, Lina Espejo-Ramirez, Janie Grindland, Jillian Kuizenga, Grace Novotny, Maggie Petersen, and Morgan Radtke were honored after the match.

"My whole family is in town to celebrate Senior Day with me, and it means a lot to get one more win here at the Wood Gym," Janie Grindland said. "I couldn't ask for anything better. The pep band always brings energy and fun and the community members and Little Huskies are always great to see in the crowd."

"It's very bittersweet," Novotny added. "It's been fun but knowing I'll never have another match in here is hard. It's been an honor to play here for five years and to play in so many matches. There's nowhere else I would rather be."

After dropping their first three home matches, the Huskies won their final six at the SDC Gym.

Tech never trailed in the match and jumped out to a quick nine-point advantage in the first 12-3. The Huskies cruised to the match lead after Makena Wesol and Jillian Kuizenga each tallied three kills and the Pride was forced into 13 errors. Grace Novotny played outside for a pair of rallies and pounded down a kill midway through.

The Huskies took another big lead early in the second, 11-3. The Pride did close the set on an 11-3 run but Morgan Radtke had a kill for setpoint and an error by PNW gave the home team a 2-0 lead. Janie Grindland had five kills in the second.

In the third, the Black and Gold hopped out to a quick nine-point lead and never looked back. The Huskies hit .478 and Meg Raabe put down five kills. Janie Grindland made it setpoint and Jillian Kuizenga sealed the win.

As a team, the Huskies hit .320 and allowed the Pride only .030, forcing 22 attacking errors. Meg Raabe had a match-high in kills for the second straight match, tallying 10 while hitting .381. Janie Grindland added nine kills while Jillian Kuizenga and Makena Wesol added seven each. Lina Espejo-Ramirez set the offense with 36 assists. Carissa Beyer led the defense with 12 digs.

The Huskies are the fifth seed in the GLIAC Tournament and will open the postseason at Wayne State in a GLIAC quarterfinal matchup. The teams split during the regular season. Each team won on its home court. Other first-round matchups are No. 8 Lake Superior State at No. 1 Ferris State, No. 7 Saginaw Valley State at No. 2 Northern Michigan, and No. 6 Grand Valley State and No. 3 Davenport.