WINONA, LAKE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team opened its 2017 season on Friday afternoon at the Grace Lancer Classic, defeating Cincinnati Christian University in straight sets (25-12, 25-15, 25-21), before losing to Indiana University Kokomo in three sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-12) at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center (MOCC).
The Warriors opened up with a 5-1 spurt against the Eagles as they never trailed in the opening set of the season. A 9-1 run put Tech up 21-9 as they cruised to the victory, hitting .314 in the set. Coach
Kourtney Wilson's squad would continue to dominate throughout the second set, using a 6-0 run to race out to an 11-4 lead. Cincinnati Christian would cut the deficit to 13-10, but a 4-0 spurt from the Warriors would put them up 17-10 and finish off the second set strong to go ahead 2-0.
CCU would hold a 17-16 lead in the third, but two consecutive kills from
Olivia Niekamp would spark a 4-0 run to put Tech up 20-17 before they closed out the sweep with a 25-21 set three win.
Courtney Mack would finish the game with a game-high nine kills while
Aubree Eggers,
Mara Zell and Niekamp each recorded seven kills apiece.
Karli Jones dished out 21 assists while
Madeline MacDonald finished with a game-high 20 digs.
The second game would not be as favorable for the Orange and Black as they were shut down by IU Kokomo in the sweep. The Cougars would limit the Warriors to a -.009 attack percentage while hitting .309. IU Kokomo would take advantage of 32 Tech errors in three games as well.
With Tech leading 7-5 in the second set, the Cougars would go on a 16-5 run and take the second set 25-16 before using a pair of 4-0 runs and a .357 hitting percentage to run away with the third set and completing the sweep.
Eggers, Niekamp and Mack would all finish with six kills each while MacDonald recorded 12 digs.
Autumn Stokes added 16 assists in the loss.
Tech (1-1) concludes play at the Lancer Classic on Saturday as they take on Silver Lake College (11 a.m.) and Grace (3 p.m.) form the MOCC.
