Volleyball falls in five at Saginaw Valley State Saturday

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The No. 22-ranked Michigan Tech volleyball team fell 3-2 at Saginaw Valley State Saturday (Nov. 16) in the regular-season finale. The Huskies battled back from a 2-0 deficit but fell 15-11 in the fifth set.

"That was an incredibly disappointing loss," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "We did not show up to play in the first set and that really set the tone.

"I'm proud of the way we fought back, but it was only because we came out so slowly. We can't rely on big plays and valiant comebacks to win. We need to be more consistent and disciplined. We made way too many errors today and Saginaw took advantage."

The Huskies finished the regular season 21-6 overall and 13-3 in the GLIAC and now begin the postseason, starting Wednesday in a GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal match at the SDC Gym. Tech is the No. 2 seed and will host seventh-seeded Grand Valley State at 6 p.m.

Down 2-0 entering the third set, the Huskies battled to 11 ties before it was locked at 19. MacAulay Petersen then had three kills and Morgan Radtke teamed up with Olivia Ghormley and then Briana Sharkey for a pair of blocks to get the Black and Gold on the board with a 25-21 win. Petersen had seven kills in the set.

In the fourth, the teams combined for seven mini runs. Tech was down 21-19 and then the Cardinals went to set and match point at 24-23. Kills by Anna Jonynas and Olivia Ghormley and then an attacking error by the home team gave the Huskies a 26-24 win and tied the match at two. Jonynas had six kills in the fourth.

SVSU (20-7, 12-4 GLIAC) built 6-1 lead in the fifth and the Huskies never got it closer than three after that. Ghormley had four kills in the fifth but Sarah Tabit was too much for the Huskies has she had six of her 30 kills in the decisive set.

Petersen tied her season-high with 17 kills. Ghormley added 16 kills, Jonynas had 11 and Radtke finished with 10 blocks and six kills. Sharkey racked up a career-high 46 assists and 14 digs.

Megan Utlak led five Huskies in double-digit digs with 15. Ghormley, Jonynas, and Petersen also completed their double-doubles with 11 digs each.

The Cardinals won the first two sets 25-20 and 26-24. Tech held set point in the second frame but three straight errors put the home team up 2-0.

Other GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal matchups are No. 8 Parkside at No. 1 Ferris State, No. 6 Northern Michigan at No. 3 Ashland, and No. 5 Wayne State at No. 4 Saginaw Valley State.

The Huskies swept GVSU 3-0 in their lone matchup on September 21 in Allendale.