Volleyball drops Friday match at Parkside

KENOSHA, Wis. – Michigan Tech volleyball fell 3-1 at Parkside Friday (Sept. 22) in the first GLIAC road match of the season. The Huskies won the first set 25-23 before the Rangers took the final three 25-21, 25-18, and 25-20.

"Credit to Coach Leigh and Parkside for playing tough and getting it done tonight," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "They outplayed us in a lot of ways, none more so than the amount of heart they battled with."

Tech trailed by six midway through the first set before going on a 6-1 run to get back into it. The Huskies finished on an 8-3 run to take the 25-23 lead, including the final three points after a pair of errors on the home team and a Lindy Oujiri kill. Meg Raabe led the Huskies with five kills in the opening set, returning to her usual spot on offense. Tech hit .278 and forced UWP into 10 errors.

There were nine ties and three different lead changes in the second. The Rangers used a 10-1 run to take an eight-point lead. Tech had a late push with a 6-0 run but the home team tied the match as Elle Truckenbrod put down seven kills.

The teams traded mini runs back and forth in the third set. UWP scored eight of the final 11 points and forced the Huskies into 16 errors to take the 2-1 lead. Lindy Oujiri had five kills for the Huskies and Elle Truckenbrod put down five for the Rangers.

Tech led for the first half of the fourth set but couldn't overcome runs of 5-0 and 3-0 by the home team. The Rangers scored six of the final eight points to take the win.

Lindy Oujiri led the Huskies with 14 kills while Meg Raabe finished with 13. Rachel Zurek (7 kills) and Tricia Kennedy (6 kills) also contributed to the offense. Tess Hayes set the attack with 38 assists while adding 10 digs. Amelia Albers (15) and Brook Dzwik (11) were also in double figures in digs.

"We need to be better and reset here and now," added Jennings. "We have a much higher standard than this. I take responsibility for not having us in a better position to win. We weren't as prepared as we needed to be. All of us should take accountability for the way we performed tonight. While I feel Parkside did their jobs well and from start to finish, we seemed out of sorts again for long stretches and it was pretty frustrating.

"We have no choice but to be better and pick it back up tomorrow. Purdue Northwest is a good team that won again tonight. We'll have our hands full and need to sharpen up."

The Huskies are 3-8 overall and 1-2 in the GLIAC and travel to Purdue Northwest for a 3 p.m. Eastern match Saturday to wrap up the weekend. The Pride defeated Northern Michigan 3-1 Friday.