FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University women's volleyball team opened the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament with a pair of wins as they opened the day defeating Lindenwood University (Ill.) Belleville 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-13) and fell to Indiana University Kokomo 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11).
Lawrence Tech (16-7, 9-3) outhit the Lynx .209 to .035 as the Blue Devils finished the match with 36 kills and 13 errors while Lindenwood recorded 26 kills and 22 errors. Isabella McDonald and Zakia Hunt both finished with eight kills each while Alaina Hawthorn had a career high seven kills in the win. Kristi Doherty added 29 assists, 14 digs, and two aces.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 6-3 lead in set one before the Lynx tied it at 8-8. Lawrence Tech went on the offensive, taking eight of the next 12 points to take a 16-12 lead as Varvara Gromakova hit an ace for the final point of that run. The Lynx did back down, coming back to tie the set at 18-18 and taking the lead 20-18 before LTU closed the match on Doherty's serve with a 7-0 run.
The second set was all Lawrence Tech from the start, taking a commanding 11-3 lead before taking the set 25-16. Hawthorn had the final kill in the set while Gromakova served the set out. In the third set of the match, Lawrence Tech led 13-5 as Gromakova served six straight points with kills from Doherty, Hawthorn, and Hunt. The Lynx struggled to get things going as their errors continued to add up as the Blue Devils won the set 25-13 to take the match 3-0.
In the nightcap, Lawrence Tech fell down 1-0 as Indiana Kokomo opened the match with a 25-20 set one win. The Blue Devils came back and tied the match with a win in set two, 25-21 as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead. The Cougars fought back to within 23-19, but LTU got a kill from Doherty to win the set 25-21.
The third set went to Indiana Kokomo in the back-and-forth set that saw the teams tied nine times in the early goings. The Cougars took the 20-18 lead in the set as they went on to win 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead. The Blue Devils returned the favor in the fourth set with a 25-22 win to tie it at 2-2 before Indiana Kokomo won the fifth set 15-11 to take the match 3-2.
Lawrence Tech was led by Schmidt led the way with 14 kills and 21 digs while Gromakova recorded 13 kills. McDonald finished with 11 kills with Doherty recording 43 assists and 26 digs.
The Blue Devils are back on the court Saturday, October 13,wrapping up the tournament with a match at 10 a.m. against Goshen (Ind.) College followed by a 2 p.m. contest with Taylor (Ind.) University.
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