Huskies volleyball team falls in five sets

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech came back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set before falling to Ohio Dominican 15-9 in the final stanza today at the SDC Gym. The Huskies lost each of the first two sets by two points each (25-23 and 26-24) before bouncing back with set wins of 25-20 and 27-25.

Miscues proved costly for Tech in the fifth set as it had five attack errors and two service errors. ODU committed just one error in the final set.

“Credit Ohio Dominican,” said Tech coach Matt Jennings. “They played well in crunch time.

“I thought our back row and blocking kept us in it, but we just didn’t get enough production up front.”

Tech posted a season-high 105 digs with five different players recording double figures. Jacqueline Aird notched 35 digs, and Elle Heinonen added 19 more.

The hosts held a 23-21 lead in set one before four straight ODU points put the game in the Panther’s win column.

Tech rallied from a 24-21 deficit in set two to tie the score at 24-all before back-to-back ODU kills put it away.

The Huskies trailed set three 10-4 before winning 12 of the next 13 points. Heinonen served three consecutive aces to start the rally that left Tech leading 16-11. The Huskies went on to win 25-20 as Stephanie Dietrich pounded down a kill.

Set four was close the whole way with Tech fighting off a match point at 24-23 on Kendall Ward‘s kill. Four points later, the Huskies won the set and tied the match as a Panther attack went long.

Three consecutive errors gave ODU a 7-4 lead in set five, and the Panthers never relinquished it.

Final hitting percentages were .183 to .152 in favor of Ohio Dominican. Both teams had nine blocks.

Sylvie Rokosh led the way for Tech in kills with 14. Lauren Emmert (12) and Dietrich (11) also reached double figures.

Michigan Tech will step out of conference for next weekend’s GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Ill. The tournament schedule will be announced Monday.

(Information Courtesy of MTU Athletics)