NMU Volleyball once again sweeps Tech
Courtesy of NMU Athletics
HOUGHTON, Mich. – For the second time on the season, the Northern Michigan University volleyball team swept U.P. rival, Michigan Tech in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup from Houghton, Mich.
NMU improves to 17-10 overall and 9-5 in the conference, while Tech drops to 9-18 and 4-10.
The Huskies started off the match by going up 9-3 and kept the lead until the ‘Cats tied the game at 16. From there NMU took the lead, 17-16 and were able to stay on top for the rest of the set, closing out the set, 25-23.
“Michigan Tech came out like they always do, they were excited and ready to defend their home court,” state head coach Dominic Yoder. “They really put up a lot of pressure on us in the first set, especially at the beginning with their serving.”
In the second set, it was all NMU, as the ‘Cats took the lead from the start, going up 10-4. The Huskies didn’t come with in more than six points for the set, giving NMU the 25-13 win.
The final set was a defensive battle as NMU didn’t lead by more than five points for the entire set. MTU came within two points at the end of the set, before NMU escalated to take the set, 25-21.
“In the third set, we were prepared for their changes; we came ready to attack the ball,” said Yoder. “It’s important to get the sweep, we want to show we are at the top in the U.P.”
For the match, junior Kalli Herron led both teams in kills with 13, while freshman Lisa Studnicka had 11 for the ‘Cats. Junior Sarah Hamilton (9) and senior Jasmine Calhoun (6) also contributed in the kills column, giving NMU 48 total kills for the night and a kill percentage of .300. Senior Kalin Zimmerman tallied 16 digs on the night, while junior Lina Lopes had 14. Junior Kellisha Harley had 42 assists.
For the Huskies, Sylvie Rokosh led with nine kills, Shelby Jones added six and Aubrey Havlichek with five. MTU finished the match with 28 kills and a .103 kill percentage. Madeline Haben and Jacqueline Aird each had eight digs on the night, with Havlichek adding six. Haben ended the night with 23 assists.
The ‘Cats will return home for the weekend as they take on Hillsdale College on Friday at 5 p.m. and Northwood University on Saturday at 4 p.m. from Vandament Arena.