Volleyball wins 3-1 at Northwood Sunday
MIDLAND, Mich. – The No. 23-ranked Michigan Tech volleyball team earned a weekend split at Northwood Sunday (Feb. 28) with a 3-1 victory. The Huskies picked up their first road win with scores 23-25, 25-15, 27-25, and 25-16.
"This weekend was definitely a battle," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Northwood is a good team that is well-positioned to win a lot of matches this spring. The way we responded in sets two and four today was very impressive. We made a bunch of big plays in the third set that proved to be crucial. That third set win was a pivotal point in the match."
The Huskies (3-1) dropped the first set before finishing strong in the next three frames. Northwood controlled in set one with a 10-3 lead before the Huskies battled all the way back to finally tie it up at 23. A service error by Tech and a kill by Northwood's Mackenzie Kepler put the home team up 1-0.
Down 11-8 in the second, Tech scored nine straight on serving by Maggie Petersen and 12 of the next 13 points to take command. Sarah Knoll, Anna Jonynas, and Olivia Ghormley all had kills down the stretch as the Huskies tied it going into the break.
There were 11 ties in the third set. Olivia Ghormley had kills to tie it at 24, tie it again at 25, give Tech a set point lead, and then teamed up with Janie Grindland on the block to give the Huskies the 2-1 lead.
The Black and Gold controlled from the outset in the fourth set, building leads of 6-1 and 20-11. The Huskies pounded down 18 kills and held the Timberwolves to only nine while cruising to the 25-16 match-clinching victory.
"Again, we had a lot of people contribute this weekend," added Jennings. "Maggie and Sarah came in and gave us a real boost off the bench. Maggie played with a ton of poise and was solid in the back row alongside Meg and Grace.
"Anna was fabulous in this one. She does so much for our side of the court, she never gets a play off. She and Olivia came up clutch for us when we most needed them. Laura's toughness and leadership were on full display as she kept us marching along. She did a really good job finding Janie and Kaycee all weekend. Janie was particularly hard to stop once we got going."
Four Huskies had double-digit kills led by Anna Jonynas with 21. Olivia Ghormley finished with 14 while Sarah Knoll and Janie Grindland added 10 kills each.
Laura De Marchi set the offense with 57 assists while adding 13 digs. Megan Utlak dug up 26 balls while Jonynas added 15 digs and Maggie Petersen added 13. Janie Grindland led with six block assists.
"I was most proud of the way we adjusted our block and defense overall," Jennings said. "I thought that and our serving game were the two biggest factors in our ability to bounce back today.
"We are definitely still working some things out and know that we have a lot of work to do in practice. I'm glad we finished the weekend strong and came away with a strong split on the road."
Tech returns to the SDC Gym next weekend and will host Purdue Northwest on Friday and Saturday.