Huskies Fall in Season Opener at Lewis

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team fell in its season-opening match at Lewis on Thursday (Sept. 1). The No. 18 ranked Flyers won 25-8, 25-22 and 25-14 at Neil Carey Arena.

"We had a rough match against a very quality opponent today," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Luckily for us, we have a quick turnaround with two matches tomorrow."

The Huskies battled down the stretch of the second set. Down 20-18, MacAulay Petersen's kill brought the margin to one. The home team then got to set point with four straight. A service error and back-to-back kills by Aubrey Ficek and Lauren Emmert kept Tech alive, but a service error at 24-22 gave the Lewis a 2-0 lead going into the match break.

Mariah Sherman got the first point of the season for the Black and Gold and finished the afternoon with a team-high eight kills. Petersen had five kills while hitting .231.

Mariel Leibovitz and Rachel Pohlod shared setting duties—each finishing with eight assists. Elle Heinonen led the defense with 11 digs, while Pohlod added six.

Maddie Selga (11) and Bailey Sparkman (10) led the offense for the Flyers. Abby Becker had 30 assists, while Nicole Yuede added 15 digs.

The Huskies play twice Friday (Sept. 2) with a 9 a.m. match against No. 4 Southwest Minnesota State and a 4 p.m. match against Central Washington, both at the Lewis Invite.