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Posted: Oct 25, 2022

Huskies begin busy week with sweep of Northern Michigan

Huskies begin busy week with sweep of Northern Michigan Play Video
Photos Highlights Raabe Interview Grindland Interview Jennings Interview Box Score

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech led from start to finish in a dominant 3-0 sweep of rival Northern Michigan Tuesday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-15, 25-21, and 25-12 to hand the Wildcats their fourth GLIAC loss of the season and improve to 16-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

"It always a good day when we can play that well and beat a good team," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "We felt like we played well Friday against Grand Valley and Davenport may have exposed us in some areas. It was good to see that we were the aggressor today and made a quick turnaround and stepped up in all areas of the game."

Grace Novotny set the tone by opening the match with back-to-back aces, and the Huskies jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Meg Raabe pounded down seven of Tech's 14 kills in the first set. The Huskies closed on a 10-4 run while forcing NMU into seven attacking errors for a 25-15 win.

Three of the first five points in the second set were kills by Makena Wesol. The Huskies led by as many as seven with Wesol leading the attack with seven kills. Leading 23-21, Lina Espejo-Ramirez turned to Wesol for setpoint, and then Kaycee Meiners finished it off for a 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

Meg Raabe got hot again in the third with back-to-back kills for a 3-0 lead and again finished with seven kills in the frame. Tech carried their momentum into an 11-point lead and never looked back. The visitors were forced into nine attacking errors in the third and the Huskies hit .333. Jillian Kuizenga had a point to make it 23-12 before a pair of errors by NMU gave the Black and Gold the straight-set win.

Meg Raabe tallied a match-high 17 kills while hitting .421 and adding eight digs and a pair of block assists.

"We've been working to play like we did tonight," Raabe said. "We need to continue to focus on our energy and capitalizing on our runs. We're going to keep working to get better every day."

Makena Wesol added nine kills and Kaycee Meiners finished with eight. Lina Espejo-Ramirez set the offense with 32 assists and added nine digs. Carissa Beyer hit 20 digs for the seventh time this season and Brooke Dzwik chipped in with 10 digs.

Janie Grindland put her stamp on the match with four blocks, three kills, and two aces.

"We were looking for revenge after our performance at Northern," added Grindland. "It was just so fun out there tonight. For us seniors, this could be our last time playing Northern, so we came out with a chip on our shoulder."

The Huskies head back downstate on the weekend to Wayne State Friday and Saginaw Valley State Saturday.