GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team traveled to the Bernice Hansen Athletic Center on the campus of Cornerstone University to face UNOH and Cornerstone in a pair of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference crossover matches to close out the regular season.
The Warriors (18-16, 9-13 WHAC) went 0-2 on the afternoon, losing in four sets to the host, Cornerstone (26-10, 13-8 WHAC) before falling to the Racers (26-10, 18-4) in three sets.
The Orange and Black struggled in the first two games against the Golden Eagles, unable to get the offense on track in a pair of losses, 18-25, 14-25. The Warriors played better in the third game, amassing 13 kills to just 11 for Cornerstone to help take a 25-23 victory.
The final set was a battle as the Warriors tied the game at 5 before the home team scored five unanswered points for a 10-5 lead. Tech then won seven of the next nine points to tie the score again at 12. The two teams traded points and tied again, this time at 15, with CU opening another five-point lead, 20-15. The Warriors took nine of the next 13 points; highlighted by three
Katelyn St. Martin kills, to tie the score again, 24-24. Unfortunately the comeback fell short as CU won the final two points and the match.
Christine Foest led the Warriors' attack with 12 kills with St. Martin adding 10.
Karli Jones and
Emileen Palka each collected 20 assists while
Taylor Kelso tallied a match-high 21 digs.
Stacy Nagy was big at the net, tallying five total blocks (3 solo, 2 assists).
The Warriors carried some momentum into their second match of the day against the Racers, taking the first three points and jumping out to a 12-8 lead. UNOH fought back to tie the score at 14, but another three unanswered points gave Tech a 17-14 advantage. The Racers answered with a three-point run of their own and the two teams traded points, tying six more times before UNOH scored back-to-back points to win the set, 25-23.
The Orange and Black kept the game close in the early stages of set two, but an 11-4 run by the Racers opened up a seven-point margin, 17-10, and the Warriors didn't recover, falling 25-18. It was much of the same in the final game as the Warriors stayed close early, but were unable to put together consecutive rallies, falling 25-21.
Foest again led the team with 12 kills with St. Martin tallying 10 while Jones had 19 assists and Palka added 13. St. Martin had a team-high 13 digs with Kelso collecting 11.
The Warriors will begin Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament action as the eighth seed on Friday, Nov. 14 when they face top-seeded Davenport University in Grand Rapids with a time to be announced.
