Kenosha, Wisconsin. – The world’s No. 19 Michigan Tech volleyball team started two games but finished just one at the Hampton Inn Invitational at Parkside on Friday. but the match was canceled and ruled a no contest after a heat wave at the De Simone Arena. Tech took the evening to McKendree where he lost 3–1.
“Today wasn’t our day,” said tech coach Matt Jennings. “We were sluggish in the previous canceled game and underperformed tonight. Thanks to McKendry’s excellent team for going all out in almost every part of the game.”
The Huskies suffered their first loss, 27-25, 20-25, 23-25, 18-25. There were 13 draws and seven lead changes in the first set. Meg Raabe had a kill to tie it at her 25, but back-to-back attacking errors by the Bearcats put her Tech ahead. Gillian Kuizenga and Lindy Oujiri led the Huskies with four kills each in the first set.
McKendry (4-2) led from start to finish in the second set, beating the Huskies by .235 to .071. Raabe finished second in black and gold in which he scored 4 kills and 9 digs.
The Bearcats scored 4 of their last 5 points in the third round to take a 2-1 lead. The set had 15 draws and 8 lead changes. Brooke Dzwik was the Husky leader with 5 kills and 6 digs.
Tech were trailing by three early in the fourth round, but the Bearcats took command with an 8-0 and 7-1 run. Carissa Beyer scored her 6 digs in her 4th.
Quizenga led the Huskies with 12 kills in the match, while Rabe finished with 11 kills and 8 digs. Lina Espejo Ramírez went on the offense with his career-high 37 assists and added 13 of his digs. Beyer finished with his team-high 16 digs.
Upper Iowa led 2-1 in three sets in the afternoon, but the game was cancelled.
Tech will conclude the tournament on Saturday against Illinois Springfield at 10am and Minnesota Crookston at 6pm.
