Volleyball handles Cardinals in five

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team wrapped up its regular season road schedule with a five-set win at Saginaw Valley State Saturday. The Huskies came back and won 26-24, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, and 15-9 to improve to 17-9 overall and 9-7 in the GLIAC.

"I'm super proud of the way we hung in there and battled back," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Saginaw's block was incredible tonight, and that we managed to keep going and finding ways to score speaks to the grit we played with.

"Lindy and Morgan both came in off the bench and made a huge impact for us out there. What they did is not easy, and we don't pull this one out with their performance."

Jillian Kuizenga gave Tech setpoint in the first set with a kill. The Cardinals responded for a 24-all tie. The Huskies took the 1-0 lead after a kill by Morgan Radtke made it 25-24 and an attacking error on the home team put Tech up. Kuizenga had six kills in the first.

SVSU led by as many as six in the second and held on late after allowing the Huskies only eight kills. The home team took the lead after the third after edging the Huskies 25-23. Tech had 16 kills in the third but also added 14 errors.

The fourth set had eight ties and four lead changes. Tied at 22, Tech got a kill from Jillian Kuizenga and back-to-back kills off the swing of Lindy Oujiri to send the match to a fifth. Oujiri came alive with seven kills in the fourth.

Tech built a four-point lead in the fifth set at 9-5. Lindy Oujiri stayed hot with three kills down the stretch to lead the Huskies to a 15-9 win and their third five-set win of the season. Meg Raabe added three kills and Morgan Radtke had a pair in the fifth.

Four Huskies had double-digit kills with Jillian Kuizenga leading the way with 15 and Lindy Oujiri (12), Meg Raabe (11), and Makena Wesol (10) also hitting the mark. Janie Grindland and Morgan Radtke combined for 11 kills and five blocks.

Lina Espejo-Ramirez was one short of a Tech career-high with 56 assists and added 11 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Carissa Beyer led the defense with 31 digs while Meg Raabe tallied a season-high 22 digs. Grace Novotny (15) and Brooke Dzwik (13) were also in double figures defensively.

Tech wraps up the regular season at the SDC Gym next weekend, hosting Parkside Friday and Purdue Northwest Saturday.