HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Michigan Tech volleyball team battled hard in their home debut to defeat the Lake Superior State Lakers in five sets. The Homecoming victory came with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-10, 21-25, 15-11 score.

"We grew as a group," said Michigan Tech Head Coach Matt Jennings. "I'm really proud of how the freshman hung in. They were tough and aggressive."

The Huskies started slowly, and it proved costly. LSSU was up 9-2 before Jennings called timeout and got things sorted out. The teams played evenly the rest of the set, but the visitors came away with the 25-21 victory.

The momentum shifted in the second as Kienna Sharp pounded back-to-back kills to help the Black and Gold get some separation. The hosts went on to a 25-18 victory to even the match at 1-all.

Madeline Haben opened set three with six straight service points including a pair of aces. Tech would build a 10-1 lead in the set and cruise to the 25-10 victory.

Tech battled back from a 22-17 deficit in set four to pull within 22-21 before LSSU put it away and forced a fifth set.

Aubrey Ficek tallied four kills in a 15-11 Huskies win in set five to close out the Huskies win in both teams' GLIAC opener.

Haben finished with a double-double with 52 assists and 11 digs. Ficek earned 18 kills and three aces overall.

Sophomore middle blocker Sylvie Rokosh added 12 kills and three blocks. Sharp tallied eight kills, six digs and three blocks to help the Huskies improve to 4-6 overall.

Michigan Tech is back in action tomorrow (Sept. 21) to take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals at 4 p.m. at the SDC Gym.