MARION, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team finished play at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitation on Saturday afternoon, falling to the host and No. 21-ranked Wildcats in four sets (25-17, 27-29, 25-18, 25-17) before defeating Indiana University Southeast in four sets (14-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) to finish the weekend with a .500 record.
The Warriors would have three players finish with double-digit kills against Indiana Wesleyan in
Olivia Niekamp (11),
Aubree Eggers (10) and
Allison Cole (10), with Niekamp hitting .320 for the match. The Wildcats would hold the lead for all but two points in the first set, getting out to a 20-12 lead en route to the first set win. The second set would feature eight ties and four lead changes as Tech got out to a 23-19 lead and appeared to be headed to a tied game, but the Wildcats would rattle off four straight points to the set up at 23 before going up 25-24. An IWU error would knot the game back up at 25 and both sides traded points over the next four serves, but a kill from Eggers and another Wildcat error would give the Orange and Black the win to knot the set up at 1-1.
The hosts would proceed to hit over .300 in the final two sets however, to take the match 3-1 while trailing just once in the third and fourth set. With the score all knotted up at 13 in the third, IWU would take 10 of the next 13 points to take the advantage and regain the set lead. After cutting the deficit to 7-6, Tech would see the Wildcats go on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good and finish off the Warriors for the 3-1 win.
Autumn Stokes had 27 assists and 10 digs while
Karli Jones added 20 assists in the loss.
IU Southeast would hold the edge in the first set against the Warriors and closed out the set on fire as they went on a 7-0 run to win 25-14 and give Tech its second 1-0 deficit of the day. The Grenadiers would race out to a 9-5 lead in the second set and get up by as many six, but the Warriors would battle back with a 8-2 run to tie the set up at 17-all. The two teams would trade points and the lead over the next 11 serves, but Tech would gain the upper hand thanks to a pair of Grenadier errors to tie it up at one with a 25-23 win.
The Warriors would jump out to a 5-0 lead in the third, with kills from four different players, only to see IU Southeast respond with a 7-1 spurt to take the lead. Tech would answer back with a 4-0 run, but would be unable to get up by more than four points as the Grenadiers fought back from every deficit, but the Warriors would ultimately hold on with the 25-23 win to go up 2-1 in the match.
A 13-7 run to open the fourth from the Warriors would give Coach
Kourtney Wilson's team the momentum for good as they outhit the Grenadiers .429 to .200 while committing just four attack errors to take the set 25-18 to finish the weekend and tournament with a .500 record.
Courtney Mack would record a career-high 15 kills while hitting .333 for the match, while
Mara Zell added nine kills of her own. Jones dished out 24 assists while Stokes was right behind with 21.
Madeline MacDonald added 26 digs in the win.
Tech (4-4) returns to action on Wednesday as they open Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play at home when they host East Division rival Lawrence Tech in their home opener. First serve is set for 7 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.
