FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team was back in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) action on Wednesday evening as they defeated University of Michigan-Dearborn, 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18) at the Schaefer Center.
Tech started off the match strong as they used a 10-4 run to open up the first set before extending their lead to 16-10. With the Warriors leading 23-15, the Wolverines would rattle off six straight points to cut the hosts lead to 23-21, but the Orange and Black would get to match point thanks to a UM-Dearborn service error while
Olivia Niekamp gave Tech the first set with a kill.
The second set would be a back-and-forth affair with 12 ties and seven lead changes. Tech would find themselves trailing 16-13, but used a 6-1 run to take a 19-17 lead, while a 4-0 run would increase the Warrior advantage to 23-18 as they went up 2-0 in the match.
The Wolverines would not make it easy on the host in just their second home and conference game as they kept fighting in the third set, erasing an 8-6 deficit with an 11-5 run to go up 17-13. The Warriors would rally back however, using a 7-3 run to tie the match at 20, with the hosts capping the rally with a 4-0 spurt. UM-Dearborn would take five of the next seven points though, to make it a 2-1 game.
Tech would come out with a vengeance in the fourth set, getting out to a 13-5 lead and forcing the visitors to use their two timeouts for the set. The Warriors would continue to control the set by going up 18-9 and responding to a 5-1 Wolverine run with a 4-0 spurt to make it a 23-14 game. UM-Dearborn would take four of the next five points, but
Courtney Mack would end the match with a kill to give Tech the 3-1 win.
The Warriors would have four players recorded eight kills:
Aubree Eggers,
Allison Cole,
Calista Helinski and Niekamp, with Cole and Niekamp picking up three blocks each.
Karli Jones and
Autumn Stokes would each dish out 21 assists while
Madeline MacDonald had 23 digs.
Tech (7-7, 1-1 WHAC) continues conference action this weekend as they travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take on Aquinas and No. 10-ranked Cornerstone. The Warriors open up with Aquinas on Friday, with first serve set for 7 p.m. from the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center.
