DEARBORN, Mich. -- The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University women's volleyball team swept opening day of the UM-Dearborn Early Bird Challenge, defeating Goshen (Ind.) College 3-0 (25-21, 25-10, 25-17) and Point Park (Pa.) University 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 25-13) on Friday evening.

Lawrence Tech (2-0) jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, but Goshen battled back to get it back to within two, 14-12. The Blue Devils went on a mini 4-1 run to take a 18-13 lead on a kill from Zakia Hunt (JR/Livonia, Mich.). Goshen (1-1) got back to within one at 19-18, however the Blue Devils closed the set with six of the final eight points to win 25-21.

In the second set, Lawrence Tech cruised to a 25-10 lead as the Blue Devils catapulted to a 10-2 lead. LTU stretched the lead to 18-6 and won the set 25-10. Lawrence Tech went on to take set three 25-17 as freshman Alysha Vipushan (FR/Tecumseh, Ohio) served the Blue Devils to 12 straight points, taking a 22-13 lead after trailing the Maple Leafs 13-10. Hunt sealed the opening match win with a kill to take it 25-17 and move to 1-0 on the season.

Brittany Schmidt (SR/Richmond, MI) led the way with a .435 hitting percentage on 11 kills and 23 total attacks. Hunt had 10 kills and a .333 hitting percentage while Gromakova added eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage. Vipushan finished with six assists and a service ace.

In match two, the Blue Devils saw Point Park battle in the opening set as LTU squeaked out a 26-24 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match. After the Pioneers took an 8-4 lead, the Blue Devils fought back to tie it at 10-10 and take a 11-10 lead on a kill from Varvara Gromakova (JR/Moscow, Russia). The set went back and forth with Lawrence Tech taking the final two points of the set.

Point Park (0-2) took an early lead in the third set, but the Blue Devils fought back to tie it at 14-14. Lawrence Tech went on to take an 18-15 lead before the Pioneers battled back to take a 23-22 lead to close the set out 25-22. Lawrence Tech won another close set in the third as Gromakova served seven straight points including a pair of aces to give the Blue Devils a 16-11 lead after trailing the Pioneers 11-9.

Lawrence Tech made it a 24-18 lead before Point Park went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 24-23 before Isabella McDonald (SO/Farmington, Michigan) sealed the set win with a kill. The Blue Devils cruised in the fourth set as Gromakova continued to serve positive points, giving LTU a 8-2 lead to open the match. She added two more aces in the final stretch of the set to push the Blue Devils lead from 19-12 to 23-12. LTU scored the final two points of the set with kills by McDonald and Jess Lodge (SO/Macomb, Mich.).

Gromakova finished the match with a .250 hitting percentage and 11 total kills while Hunt finished the match with 15 kills and a .200 hitting percentage. McDonald recorded nine kills and led the team with a .421 hitting percentage. Doherty had a match high 29 assists to go with 16 digs.

The Blue Devils wrap up the Early Bird Challenge on Saturday, August 25 when they face Mount Vernon Nazarene at 12 p.m. and close it out with Spring Arbor (Mich.) University at 2 p.m. Both games are on court three at the UM-Dearborn Field House.

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