BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University women's volleyball team defeated Evangel University 3-2 (25-18, 25-20, 15-25, 18-25, 15-8) and fell to No. 23 Ottawa (Kan.) University 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17)
The Blue Devils (5-3) cruised through the first two sets as they hit .350 in the first set, recording 17 kills with just three errors. Varvara Gromakova (JR/Moscow, Russia) set the tone early with seven straight service points as Zakia Hunt (JR/Livonia, Mich.) had three kills in a 7-0 run that saw the Blue Devils take an 8-3 lead. Hunt added three straight service points as Britanny Schmidt, Kristi Doherty (JR/Davison, Mich.), and Jess Lodge (SO/Macomb, Mich.) all had kills to push the LTU lead to 13-6. They went up 18-10 as they closed the the set out 25-18.
In set two, the Blue Devils trailed 4-2 before taking the lead on Hunts ace, 8-7. The Crusaders fought back to take a 13-12 lead, but Lawrence Tech battled back to take the set 25-20. Evangel (3-8) responded, tying the match at 2-2 with wins in set three (25-15) and set four (25-18). The team's were tied at 6-6 in the final set, but LTU ran off a nine of the next 11 points to take the set and the match. Hunt finished the match with 18 kills while Gromakova and Dacey Cook (SR/Potterville, Mich.) had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Doherty added 56 assists with Reinali Calisin (FR/Edmonton, Alberta) recording a pair of service aces.
In the second match, Lawrence Tech took opened with a 25-21 set one win over No. 23-ranked Ottawa (5-3), but the Braves took the final three sets to take the match 3-1. Lawrence Tech struggled from the front, hitting .073 percent while committing 26 errors and just creating 37 points off the attack. Isabella McDonald (SO/Farmington, Michigan) led the way for Lawrence Tech with eight kills while Gromakova also finished with eight. Hunt added six kills while Doherty recorded 32 assists.
Lawrence Tech opens the conference season on Wednesday, September 5 at Don Ridler Field House. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
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