Huskies lose in five at Northwood Saturday

MIDLAND, Mich. – The No. 23-ranked Michigan Tech volleyball team suffered a 3-2 loss at Northwood Saturday (Feb. 27) in the first road match of the season for the Huskies. Tech took the first two sets 25-16 and 25-21 before the Timberwolves finished strong 25-22, 26-24, and 15-12.

"Credit Northwood for being the better team tonight," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "We were off to a decent start and really fell flatfooted as the match progressed. You could tell Northwood was getting better with each set. They continued to do what they needed to in order to capitalize on our mistakes."

The first set was the only one decided by more than four points as the Huskies took a commanding 13-4 lead and went on to win 25-16. Olivia Ghormley racked up six kills in the first as Tech hit .344.

Tech added to the lead in the second with a 25-21 win. There were three early ties before the Huskies scored eight of the next 10 points. Northwood scored four straight points late in the set before back-to-back kills by Ghormley and a set sealing kill by Janie Grindland put the Huskies up 2-0 at the break.

Northwood led 10-6 early in the third before the Huskies battled back to tie it at 13. The teams traded blows late in the frame before Mary Gallagher had a pair of kills to make it set point and added the finishing point for a 25-22 win for the home team.

The Huskies and Timberwolves battled through 15 ties in the fourth set. A kill by Ghormley tied the set a 24. Sydney Sweet made it set point in favor of the Timberwolves with a kill followed by an attacking error by the Huskies to tie the match.

In the fifth and decisive set, there were five early ties and neither team was able to gain an advantage of more than two points until the final score. Trailing 13-11, Anna Jonynas had a kill. The Timberwolves were able to close out the match after a serving error on the Huskies and an ace by Venera Kadriu.

Olivia Ghormley led the Huskies with 23 kills. Anna Jonynas had 19 kills and 13 digs. Lindy Oujiri and Janie Grindland added 11 kills each. Grindland also had five block assists.

Laura De Marchi racked up 59 assists while Megan Utlak led the defense with 21 digs.

The Huskies and Timberwolves will wrap up the weekend set at 2 p.m. on Sunday