MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Michigan Tech volleyball team opened the
2009 season with a pair of losses at the Wildcat Open Friday. Tech
lost a five-set heart breaker to Wis.-Parkside, 3-2, and followed
up with a 3-0 loss to No. 7 Minn.-Duluth.
The Huskies won the first two sets against the Rangers (25-23,
25-18), but UWP bounced back to take the next two sets (18-25,
20-25). The two teams would push the deciding set to extra points
with Parkside taking the win with an 18-16 set.
The Huskies held a 62-60 advantage in kills but committed eight
more attack errors than the Rangers in the match. Overall Parkside
hit .217 in the match to .170 by Tech.
The Black and Gold were also very aggresive on the serve recording
nine service aces to its opponent's three.
Minn.-Duluth defeated Tech in three sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-12)
thanks to double-digit kill performances by Anna Zyvolski (12) and
April Hansen (11).
The Bulldogs held an advantage in every statistical category expect
service aces with each team recording three.
Sophomore Kristine Sexton led the Tech
offense on the day finishing with a team-high 23 kills, including a
match-high 18 vs. Parkside.
Junior Kathleen Storm added 16
kills and four block assists for the Huskies, and freshman Madeline Haben tallied 75
assists on the day.
Freshman Rachel Glisch handled
the majority of the libero duties, finishing with 34 digs and tying
for a team-high with three service aces.
The team will wrap-up play Saturday in the Wildcat Open with
matches against Winona State and UC San Diego.
