WINONA LAKE, Ind. –The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team opened their 2019 regular season campaign with back-to-back victories in the opening day of the Lancer Classic Friday, taking down Robert Morris University (Ill.) 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-8) and Martin Methodist College 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 25-16) inside the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on the campus of Grace College.
Havilyn Cummings led the Warriors with 10 kills and added five blocks.
Madison Park recorded 35 assists and
Madeline MacDonald rounded out top performers against Robert Morris with 10 digs.
Both squads swapped their share of the lead through most of the opening set until a pair of kills from
Madelyn Omo helped propel Tech to a 10-7 advantage. Knotted up a 17-17, a 5-0 run for the Orange and Black would create some distance with their opponents at 22-17. Tech closed out the first set 25-18 on a quick 3-0 run.
Set two was kicked off by holding the Eagles to just two points early. The Warriors would keep their opponents at bay, climbing to as much as a 14-8 advantage. A pair of kills from Calista Helinksi and Cummings would spark an 8-0 run that would put Tech within one of taking the second frame, which they would eventually claim 25-15.
An offensive outburst was responsible for a 12-1 run in a very dominant third set for the Orange and Black, which helped to push them out to an eventual 15-5 lead. Back-to-back kills from
Jordan Aylward started an 8-0 run for the Warriors en route to their 25-8 third set score and match sweep of the Eagles.
In the day's second content,
Olivia Niekamp led Tech with 19 kills, while Park registered 29 assists. MacDonald rounded out the Warriors' top performers with 16 digs.
The opening frame was a back-and-forth battle of the lead, with both knotted up at 9-9 early. A timely 3-0 run would put the Warriors ahead 17-13 as the match wound down to the end, but the Red Hawks would not go down without a fight. Locked at 23-23, Tech would grind out a 25-23 first set victory with Helinski's kill sealing the 1-0 advantage.
In a near duplicate of the first set, both teams ran tightly contested to a 15-15 lock midway in the second frame. A run from Martin Methodist would put them ahead by as much as four late, 21-17. The Warriors would attempt to make a late comeback, but would ultimately fall 25-22 to even things at 1-1.
A 7-0 run would spark the Warriors back to life in the third set, as they would eventually jump ahead 11-3 behind five kills from Niekamp. Tech would continual to grow their lead, spreading it to 18-8 late. Niekamp and Omo would clock a pair of kills to put the Warriors back in the driver's seat with a 25-14 set score.
With the opportunity to close the match out in four, the Orange and Black took advantage of a 5-1 lead early. They would utilize a streak of errors from their opponents to grab the 13-4 advantage, one that would continue to grow to as much as 22-10 late. A 25-16 final set score would provide a 3-1 match victory for the Warriors on a perfect 2-0 start to the invitational.
The Orange and Black (2-0) will be back in action Saturday for the second day of the Lancer Classic with first serve against Governors State University set for 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. with host Grace College at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
