FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Playing inspired volleyball, the Indiana Tech volleyball team won a pair of matches in four sets, including an upset of #RV Point Park (Pa.) in the "Liz Lykowski Game" at the Schaefer Center on Friday night. The Warriors are hosting the Liz Lykowski tournament this weekend which was put together to honor former Warrior, Elizabeth "Liz" Lykowski.
Lykowski was a defensive specialist for the Warriors who tragically and suddenly lost her life to a congenital heart defect in 2008, just three years after helping restart the Tech volleyball program. The tournament is played to honor her and to remind us all that being a part of a team is so special and that life can be short, so we should live every day to the fullest.
Playing in honor of Liz, the Warriors (15-11) dawned their pink uniforms in the final match of the day and played with heart and energy. Tech came from behind to beat the Pioneers (22-12) after losing the first set, 21-25, taking the final three, 25-18, 25-12, and 27-25.
The contest featured 21 ties and nine lead changes, with 10 ties and four lead changes in the first set and the rest in the final game. The Warriors were outhit in the first set, .212 (12-5-33) to .030 (10-9-33) but the offense and defense turned around in the final three games, dominating the Pioneers, including holding them to two negative hitting games.
In the second set the Orange and Black hit .190 (15-7-42) while holding PPU to -.028 (6-7-36) while increasing that margin in the third game, hitting .355 (14-3-31) while the Pioneers hit -.214 (2-8-28). The final set was closer, but the Warrior still held the advantage, .200 (17-8-45) to .159 (14-7-44).
Shanice Richards paced Tech with 14 kills and a career-best .565 (14-1-23) hitting percentage, while
Cassandra Sarabia added 13 and
Katelyn St. Martin tallied 11, including match point.
Karli Jones collected 24 assists with
Emileen Palka chipping in 20 while the Warriors tallied 53 as a team.
On defense
Taylor Kelso collected 21 digs with Palka adding 12. Richards led the way at the net with three blocks (1 solo, 2 assists) with
Christine Foest adding two block assists.
Tech started the day against Indiana University – Southeast (10-14) and also rallied from a first set loss (20-25) to take the next three, 25-20, 25-18, 25-16.
It was a back and forth match that saw 21 ties and 12 lead changes. The first set saw eight ties and three lead changes, the last coming when IU-Southeast broke a 12-12 tie. In the second set, Sarabia broke a 6-6 tie and the Warriors never looked back, riding their momentum to the match victory.
The Grenadiers won the attack battle in just one set, the first, and by a small margin, .049 (10-8-41) to .024 (10-9-42). The Orange and Black then won the final three, .182 (11-5-33) to .171 (13-7-35), .278 (16-6-36) to .108 (8-4-37) and .400 (14-2-30) to .065 (10-8-31).
Foest led the offense with 13 kills with Richards chipping in 11 and St. Martin collecting nine. Jones led the setters with 25 assists while Palka tallied 18.
St. Martin added 19 digs in the contest with Kelso tallying 18 and
Elizabeth Mathews chipping in 11.
Tech also tallied nine blocks, seven solo, led by five from
Stacy Nagy (4 solo, 1 assist) and three, all solo, from Richards.
The Liz Lykowski tournament concludes tomorrow with six more matches at the Schaefer Center. The Warriors play at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. against crosstown rivals, University of St. Francis, #RV St. Catharine College, respectively.
Live coverage of the games can be found at
www.indainatechwarriors.com/live.
Bracket updates and tournament information is available at
www.indianatechwarriors.com/liz.
