HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to rival Northern Michigan on Wednesday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies held four match points, but the Wildcats squeaked out the extended fifth, 20-18.
 
Tech (11-10, 5-6 GLIAC) had three early blocks in the fifth to jump out to a four-point lead. NMU battled back and there were 11 ties in the frame.
 
A block by Meg Raabe and Kaycee Meiners got it to match point for the Huskies, and the Wildcats attack in the next rally went out of bounds and Tech won. But, out came the green challenge card, and the call was overturned and ruled in bounds to extend the match.
 
Tech took three more match-point leads, but NMU answered the bell time after time and got three straight kills by Caylie Barlage, Meghan Meyer, and Jacqueline Smith to win the match.
 
"The ball was in," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "I would've done the same thing. We do the challenges to get it right, and they got it right.
 
"What should've happened was for us to finish off the four times we had match point. You couldn't have asked for a tighter set in the fifth. They had 18 kills and we didn't have an error."
 
The Huskies won the first 25-19 after 17 kills and hitting .293. NMU responded with a 13-2 run early in the second and held Tech to only six kills, tying the match 25-15 heading into the break.
 
The Wildcats (14-7, 8-3 GLIAC) used a 9-2 run in the third to take control and won 25-20 to take the 2-1 advantage. The Huskies responded in the fourth to again tie it up. The home team hit .452 in the frame and had five players with three kills.
 
Meg Raabe led the Huskies with 21 kills in the match, hitting the 20-kill mark for the second time this season. She hit .352 and also had six digs and four block assists. Rachel Zurek added 14 kills, while Kaycee Meiners notched eight kills and eight blocks. Makena Wesol tallied seven kills, with Paige Wagner and Jacqueline Yancy adding five kills each.
 
Amelia Albers led the Huskies with 21 digs, while Brynn Erickson added a career-high 20 digs. Tess Hayes tallied 52 assists and 12 digs. Brooke Dzwik was also in double figures with 11 digs.
 
Jacqueline Smith tallied a match-high 28 kills for the Wildcats. Allie Barlow had 62 assists and Liesl Haugen led with 31 digs.
 
The Huskies continue the final home weekend by hosting Parkside at 5 p.m. on Friday and Purdue Northwest at 3 p.m. on Senior Day Saturday.