Michigan Tech Volleyball Wins Eight Straight Games

The Michigan Tech volleyball team is off to its best start since 1994 with eight straight wins to open 2015. The Huskies completed a 4-0 weekend with a pair of 3-1 victories today—one over St. Cloud State and another vs. South Dakota Mines.

'We're playing as a team: selflessly and with confidence," said Tech coach Matt Jennings. "On a day like today, those areas made the difference in the end. This team has guts, and I'm incredibly proud of what they're doing."

Of the many strong performances by Huskies: Aubrey Ficek had a team-high 43 kills on the weekend; Lauren Emmert added 42 kills on a .326 hitting percentage; Stephanie Dietrich hit .462 with only two errors in four matches; Jacqueline Aird posted 59 digs and is closing in on Tech's all-time digs record.

The Huskies dropped the opening set vs. St. Cloud State 25-18 before rallying to win the next three 25-16, 25-11 and 25-21. Freshman Mariah Sherman had a team-high 14 kills while Emmert posted 10 kills and figured into six blocks. Sylvie Rokosh added eight kills with zero errors.

After losing the first set, Tech dominated sets two and three. The Black and Gold won five of the final six points in the second set, then won the final four points of the third set. A Sherman kill and a block by Sherman and Emmert finished the match.

"St. Cloud plays a different system that challenges teams at the net," said Jennings. "We made adjustments to neutralize their slide attack and allow us to play fast. Kendall Ward came in and disrupted their offense with strong swings and putting up a big block."

Tech had to battle to stay unbeaten in its final match of the weekend. South Dakota Mines fought off three set points to claim the opening set 28-26. The Huskies bounced back for set wins of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-19.

Rokosh and Ficek kills closed out the second set. Halie Hart put away the Hardrockers in a close third set with a service ace. Tech led 21-14 in the fourth set before South Dakota Mines scored six out of eight to close within 23-19. Ficek pounded home a kill, and the Hardrockers made an error to end the match.

Hart had a career-high 20 digs in the match. Ficek led all players with 17 kills.

"Mines was a scrappy team that played well in the middle and in serve receive," said Jennings. "They caught us sleeping in set one and played aggressively.

"The match was a grueling two hours and took everything we had left in the tank to pull it off."

Michigan Tech will bring its 8-0 record home for its first GLIAC matches next weekend. The Huskies host Lake Superior State Friday (Sept. 18) night at 7 p.m. and Northwood Saturday (Sept. 19) at 3 p.m.

Notes: The 1994 Michigan Tech volleyball team opened the season 9-0 and went on to win the GLIAC title … Setter Rachel Pohlod, who had 585 assists all last season, already has 309 in the opening two weekends of 2015.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.