Volleyball earns weekend sweep of No. 25 Ferris State
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team earned a weekend sweep of No. 25 Ferris State Saturday (Mar. 13) after defeating the Bulldogs 3-1 at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-14, 25-17, 23-25, and 25-13 to improve to 5-1.
"For this team and this program and this moment these wins this weekend are big," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "Ferris State has been our biggest challenge for this group over the past few seasons. We were a little shorthanded and the way this team stepped up and played together was something special. I think we had a little bit extra in us and it showed."
Tech jumped out to a 2-0 lead. All six attackers available notched at least two kills in the opening set as the home team hit .394 while holding Ferris to a -.038. The Huskies led from the beginning and used a 12-2 run to take the 1-0 advantage.
The Black and Gold led from start to finish in the second set and rode the strong hitting of Olivia Ghormley and Jillian Kuizenga who combined for 10 kills. Janie Grindland had the final kill to put the Huskies up 2-0 heading into the break.
Ferris State (5-3) battled through 12 ties in the third to get back into the match with a 25-23 win. The teams were tied at 23 before a service error on the Huskies and a kill by Katie O'Connell put the visitors on the board.
Tech never trailed in the fourth and rode the serving of Maggie Petersen to build an 11-3 lead. A 4-0 run put the home team up 17-6 and then closed on a 4-1 run to seal the win. Anna Jonynas had the last kill for the Huskies for the second day in a row as part of a seven-kill frame.
Four Huskies hit double figures in kills as Tech hammered down 73 kills to 40 for Ferris. Olivia Ghormley had 20 kills for the second day in a row, and Jillian Kuizenga matched her career-best with 15 kills. Anna Jonynas (15) and Morgan Radtke (10) also hit double figures. Janie Grindland had eight kills and six block assists.
"Jill's been working very hard, and she made the most of her opportunity this weekend," added Jennings. "Olivia and Anna took senior experienced, very informed, and confident swings. We earned a lot of our points this weekend with well-placed balls."
Laura De Marchi racked up 61 assists while adding 13 digs, five kills, and three block assists. Megan Utlak and Anna Jonynas each had 15 digs. Maggie Petersen tied a career-high with 14 digs. Lina Espejo-Ramirez chipped in with 11 digs.
"Maggie stuck in there and came up with some great passes," said Jennings. "Defensively, she came up with some big plays. She's fast back there and gets to a lot of balls."
The Huskies head on the road for the next two weekends, beginning at Saginaw Valley State on March 19-20.
