ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to top 20-ranked opponents at the Up North Tournament on Friday. The Huskies fell 3-0 to No. 17 Barry in the afternoon and then dropped another 3-0 contest in the evening against No. 10 St. Cloud.
"We faced two very tough opponents today and unfortunately struggled to play consistently good ball," Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. "There were moments of brilliance, but we weren't able to catch fire and make any real pushes against either team. We have a lot of notes on areas that need improvement, but ultimately, we are moving on and focusing our attention to another opportunity to play well tomorrow. We hope to end this weekend on a positive note and carry some momentum into conference play.
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Madelynn Kreider had a breakout day and provided a huge spark for us in the setter position. She was able to get our attackers one-on-one situations, serve tough, and played quality defense. I'm excited for her future in a Husky uniform.
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Rachel Zurek had some big-time kills and provided quality leadership. We rely on her a lot in our offense and she delivered consistently today."
No. 17 Barry 3, Michigan Tech 0
The Barry Buccaneers, who hail from Miami Shores, Florida, defeated the Huskies 25-21, 25-15, and 25-19 at Halenbeck Hall to move to 4-0—all in 3-0 sweeps. There were 12 ties and eight lead changes in the match.
Jacqueline Yancy led the Huskies with eight kills while
Rachel Zurek and
Brooke Dzwik added five each.
Madelynn Kreider set the offense with 18 assists with
Tess Hayes adding seven.
Brynn Erickson and
Julia Fledderjohn each tallied five digs.
No. 10 St. Cloud 3, Michigan Tech 0
The hosts for the day, the SCSU Huskies, won 25-17, 25-12, and 25-20 in the evening match. The Red and Black hit .410 and limited Tech to .177. SCSU scored the last seven points in the first set and began the second on a 5-0 run. The third set was tight throughout with 10 ties and five lead changes before the home team closed on a 9-2 run to improve to 5-2 on the season.
Tech received kills from eight different players and was led by
Rachel Zurek and
Brooke Dzwik with seven.
Madelynn Kreider tallied 21 assists and seven digs.
Julia Fledderjohn also had seven digs.
Michigan Tech is 2-4 on the season and wraps up the weekend back in Duluth on Saturday against Adelphi. First serve is at 10:30 a.m. Eastern against the 2-5 Panthers.
