Kenosha, Wis – The No. 19-ranked Michigan Tech volleyball team finished the weekend at the Hampton Invitational on a sunny Saturday (Sept. 3). The Huskies beat Illinois Springfield in the morning and picked up their sixth win of the season at Crookston, Minnesota in the evening.
“I’m definitely pleased with the way we came back today,” Tech coach Matt Jennings said. “We accomplished what we wanted to do there and stayed together as a unit to complete it.
“We still have a lot of work to do as a team, and I want us to be better at the little things, but overall we played well in both matches today. We’ll keep going. We’ll grow as a team as we go through this season, I’m absolutely sure of that.”
Michigan Tech 3, Illinois Springfield 0
The Huskies swept the Prairie Stars 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18. Tech never trailed in the first set, posting three kills by three different players. There were 14 turnovers and 11 lead changes in the second. Janie Grindland and Meg Raabe combined for the final point on the block. Jillian Kuizenga had 5 kills in the third to complete the sweep.
Kuizenga finished with 10 kills and hit .450. Lindy Oujiri had 10 kills while Grindland added nine kills and two aces. Lina Espejo-Ramirez had 31 assists. Katch Walch, Grace Novotny and Beyer each had 10 digs.
Michigan Tech 3, Minnesota Crookston 0
The Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles 25-15, 25-22, and 25-18. Meg Raabe had five kills in the first set. The Black and Gold have scored their last 6 points and 12 of their last 14 points. Tech went on a 20-15 run in the second before finishing with a 10-2 run to take a 2-0 lead. The Huskies rallied with a seven-point lead and a pair of late kills by Lauren Richards and a layup by Carissa Beyer to beat Seth Tech.
Raabe led the Huskies with 12 kills, while Kuizenga finished with 10 against UMC. Espejo Ramirez had 31 assists and Bayer finished with 16 goals.
Tech will host Davenport and Grand Valley next weekend at SDC Gym to open conference play and start a four-game home streak.
“Coming off a very successful pre-conference schedule, we turn our attention to the most challenging opening weekend of GLIAC play,” Jennings said. “Davenport and Grand Valley are the real deal, and we’ll do everything we can to prepare for what should be a really fun home opener weekend.”
The Huskies host the Panthers on Friday at 6 p.m.
