Volleyball Falls in Opener at Midwest Crossover

AURORA, Ill. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team opened its weekend at the Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament with a 3-1 loss to Cedarville on Friday (Oct. 14). The Huskies won the first set 25-19 before dropping the next three 25-21, 25-17, and 25-20.

"Credit to Cedarville for playing a really nice match," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "They simply outplayed us from about three quarters through the first set until the end. They are a good team."

Aubrey Ficek led all players with 20 kills while hitting .378. Lauren Emmert also had a productive match with eight kills and two solo blocks.

Rachel Pohlod set the offense with 36 assists while adding 15 digs and six kills. Halie Hart added 11 digs.

"Our offense was actually very good for most of the match," added Jennings. "Aubrey proved just how tough and competitive she really is. She put on a clinic out there—one of the best individual efforts I've ever seen.

"Unfortunately, we didn't play very well in other areas. Our defense struggled making stops and we made too many passing and serving errors. That really limited Aubrey, Rachel and some other parts of our attack."

The Huskies are back in action for a pair of matches Saturday (Oct. 15). First up is a meeting with Quincy at 11 a.m. followed by a 5 p.m. match against Rockhurst.

"The good news is that we get a chance to bounce back tomorrow against two more solid nonconference opponents," Jennings said. "This one has no bearing on league standings, but I hope to do our part for the GLIAC and pick up two wins tomorrow."

Quincy (11-8) defeated Trevecca Nazarene Friday and Rockhurst (15-4) took down Hillsdale.

The GLIAC went 14-8 on day one at the Crossover. The GLVC was 12-12 while the GMAC went 1-7.