Huskies volleyball team downs Hillsdale
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team earned a weekend split of GLIAC South Division opponents with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Hillsdale Saturday (Sept. 27) at the SDC Gym. After falling 25-18 in the first set, the Huskies won 25-22, 25-15 and 25-15 to improve to 5-7 overall and 4-3 in the GLIAC.
“Today’s win was big,” Tech coach Matt Jennings said. “For the number of times have we blown a lead, or come that close and fall just short, this win is exactly what this young squad needed.”
After dropping set one, the Huskies opened set two with three straight kills off the fingertips of Aubrey Havlichek and Stephanie Dietrich. Lauren Emmert came alive in the frame pounding down all seven or her attempts for kills. Dietrich gave the home team set point, and Kendall Ward finished it off with a kill.
Tech’s middles continued to dominate in the third. Emmert had two early kills to put the Huskies in the drivers seat. Sylvie Rokosh had a block that gave Tech a set point and Ward again hit home the winner. The home team hit a blistering .375 in the frame.
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead in set four and cruised to the win. Emmert contributed at the net with five kills and also added a pair of digs from the back row. Jacqueline Aird dug up six balls that contributed to the Chargers hitting -.086.
“Our serve receive wasn’t very good in that first set,” added Jennings “We were able to clean that up, and that was the difference in picking up the win. Credit Jacky for making some adjustments. We can always rely on her and trust her on the court.”
Rachel Pohlod was the catalyst for the Huskies offense with 44 assists and five kills. She also added 13 digs. Aird finished with a match-high 18 digs.
“Rachel distributed the ball very well to our attackers and that was important,” said Jennings. “Our defense was also so consistent and kept some rallies alive.”
Emmert led a balanced Huskies attack with 16 kills. Rokosh and Dietrich each added 11 kills, while Ward had seven, and Havlicheck finished with six.
After starting its conference schedule with five straight wins, Hillsdale (6-5, 5-2 GLIAC) dropped two in the Upper Peninsula. Emily Wolfert led the Chargers with 13 kills. Marissa Owen tallied 39 assists, and Jordan Denmark added 13 digs.
Tech makes its second trip to Ohio next weekend for three matches. The Huskies play at Walsh (Oct. 3), Malone (Oct. 4) and Urbana (Oct. 6).
(Information Courtesy of MTU Athletics)