FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team opened up day one of the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18) win over Huntington in the afternoon session and a 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of Indiana University Southeast in the evening session's Liz Game.
In their contest with Huntington, Tech would finish with two players posting double figure kill numbers, with
Courtney Mack registering 12 and
Jordan Aylward following close with 11 of her own.
Karli Jones recorded 27 assists in the match, while
Madeline MacDonald rounded things out with a match-leading 29 digs.
A 5-0 run composed of five consecutive kills, three of which came off the hands of
Calista Helinski, helped kick off the first set for the Orange and Black. Huntington answered back with their own streak, taking the 9-7 score. A string of errors from their opponents put Tech back in command, 12-9, but that would again be met with a 5-0 Huntington run to take a two point advantage. Nine consecutive points powered by their offensive efforts would boost the Foresters to a 24-15 lead and eventually grant them the 25-17 first set decision.
Huntington looked to follow up their dominating play from set one into set two with a 3-0 early lead, but the Warriors kept things close before a 4-0 run would put them up 9-7. After an exchange of points midway, Tech was able to gain momentum and distance themselves from their opponents with a kill off Mack for the 20-15 lead. A 25-19 finish would knot things at a set apiece heading into set three.
The Foresters' 5-1 lead would be wiped out by a 6-0 Warrior run to put them up 9-7. A second six point streak behind opponent errors boosted the Orange and Black ahead 17-9 late and eventually gained them a 25-18 third set decision. With the potential decisive fourth set, the Warriors came out dominant, scoring seven of their first nine points off kills. Huntington would fight to force a 11-10 lead, but a 6-1 run from Tech would put them up 16-12 just over midway. A kill from Aylward would help lead to the dagger for the Warriors as they closed out the match with a 25-18 fourth set score.
For the evening session victory over IU Southeast, Helinski led the Warriors with eight kills, while
Olivia Niekamp followed with seven.
Autumn Stokes concluded the night with 17 assists and
Madysn Cardinal recorded 11 digs to conclude Tech's stat line.
The Warriors would jump out to an immediate 6-1 lead over IU Southeast to kick off set one in the evening session. A pair of kills from Mack, in addition to a string of opponent errors, pushed the Warriors out to an eventual 19-6 lead.
Allison Cole's kill would give the Orange and Black the 25-14 first set decision. A back and forth contest would put the Warriors up 9-7 early in set two and eventually transition into a 16-16 tie between the two squads. Tech was able to grab the upper hand and take a 21-18 lead on Grenadiers' service error that would lead to the 25-21 final set score.
Heading into the third set, Tech was again able to jump ahead early to a 9-4 advantage off explosive offensive play including a multiple kill effort from Cole. IU Southeast would make things interesting late, coming within one, 15-16, before the Warriors would turn a 3-0 run into a 19-15 lead. Tech would hold their lead the remainder of the match to secure the 3-0 match victory off a 25-19 score.
The Orange and Black (11-17) will return to action on Saturday as they continue the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament at the Schaefer Center with a 10 a.m. match-up with Indiana University Kokomo and a contest with Shawnee State University set for 2 p.m.
