FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team continued its stellar play as they won their seventh straight victory Saturday afternoon inside the Schaefer Center as they avenged an earlier loss to Aquinas College with a 3-1 (25-14, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23) victory in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) action.
Olivia Niekamp led both sides with a match-high 13 kills on.346 hitting while adding a pair of blocks.
Allison Cole notched a season-high 12 kills while
Havilyn Cummings added nine kills on .529 hitting with four blocks.
Genna Karbowski dished out 22 assists while
Madison Park had 18.
Madeline MacDonald had 25 digs while
Madysn Cardinal had 15 digs and three service aces.
The Saints raced out to a 3-0 lead to begin the match, but a kill from Jordan Alyward sparked a 4-0 run for the Warriors. Three kills from Niekamp powered a 6-0 spurt for Tech as they increased their advantage to 12-7. The Orange and Black grew their lead to as many as 11 points and used an 8-3 spurt to close the set with the 25-14 win to go up 1-0.
Aquinas held the early advantage again in the second set as they got out to a 6-3 lead while using a 6-1 spurt to extend it to 12-5. The visitors grew the lead to 17-7, but Tech responded with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit down to 18-15. The Saints regained the momentum however and closed out the set with a 7-4 run to take the set 25-19 and even the match up at 1-1.
The third set featured eight ties as the two teams battled for control early on in the set, but Aquinas held a 21-16 lead thanks to a 5-2 run and appeared poised to take the lead in the match. Three straight kills from Tech, with the last two coming from Cole, sparked a 7-1 spurt that gave the hosts a 23-22 lead. Following a Saints point, Tech responded with kills from Cummings and Niekamp to go up 2-1 with the 25-23 victory.
The fourth set was another tight affair between the two conference rivals, with seven ties and three lead changes. Knotted up at 13-all, the Warriors raced ahead with a 6-1 spurt to take control of the momentum with a 19-14 lead. Tech grew its advantage to 22-17 before the Saints found some momentum of their own and rattled off five straight points to tie the set up at 22-22. The two sides traded the next two points before a kill from Park put the hosts at match point and were granted the win thanks to an Aquinas attack error.
Tech (21-16, 9-4 WHAC) continues a five-match homestand Wednesday as they host the University of Northwestern Ohio in a conference matchup and the team's "Pink Game". First serve is set for 7 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.
