Volleyball opens season with sweep of LSSU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lake Superior State (0-1, 0-1 GLIAC) | 20 | 15 | 12 | 0 |
|
Michigan Tech (1-0, 1-0 GLIAC) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech opened its 2021 volleyball season with a 3-0 sweep of Lake Superior State Saturday (Feb. 20) at the SDC Gym. The Huskies defeated the Lakers for the 19th straight time 25-20, 25-15, and 25-12.
"That was fun," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "We finally got play. It happened and it was real. It wasn't that long ago that we didn't know when we would play our next match. That was a lot of fun to be a part of and I'm glad that we came out with a victory."
The two teams felt each other out through the first set before the Huskies took command down the stretch. Holding a 20-19 lead, Tech scored five of the final six points to take a 1-0 lead. The Huskies pounded down 17 kills in the opening set with Anna Jonynas off to a hot start with seven.
"We started a little shaky, but we came together as a team as if we never left the court and that there wasn't more than a year since our last match," Jonynas said.
Sarah Knoll got the Huskies on the board in each of the first two sets and helped the Huskies build an 8-4 advantage in the second. With Tech holding on to a 12-11 lead, the home team reeled off six straight points and took a 2-0 lead after scoring 13 of the final 17 points. Jonynas again led with five kills, while Olivia Ghormley and Janie Grindland found their groove with three kills each.
In the third, Tech built a 10-5 lead before adding in some substitutes while continuing to put away the Lakers. Lindy Ouijiri had three kills in the third set along with Ghormley who finished off the match with a kill.
Jonynas tallied a match-high 13 kills while also adding eight digs, a pair of block assists, a service ace, and an assist. Ghormley added 10 kills while Knoll finished with seven and Grindland six.
Laura De Marchi set up much of the offense with 33 assists while also adding six digs and three block assists. Lina Espejo-Ramirez had five assists in the third set.
Megan Utlak led the defense with 13 digs while Grace Novotny chipped in with 11.
The Huskies hit .252 in the match and held the Lakers to .021. LSSU was led offensively by Halle Grulke with six kills. Sydney Briney had 18 digs for the Lakers
"We need to just keep doing our thing," De Marchi said. "At the end of the match we were playing good volleyball and everybody was chipping in to help the team. We need to keep the focus take it day by day all season long."
The Huskies and Lakers wrap up the opening weekend on Sunday (Feb. 21) back at the SDC Gym.
"We'll look at some film and see what we can do better," added Jennings. "Right now, we're at a point where we need to continue to get better ourselves and work on our game."
First serve is set for 1 p.m.
