SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University women's volleyball team defeated Martin Methodist (Tenn.) College 3-2 (25-15, 27-29, 25-15, 19-25, 15-6) on Thursday night in their final match at the 2019 NAIA Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa. The Blue Devils most successful season in program history comes to end the same way it started, with a win. 

Lawrence Tech (33-4) opened the match with a 3-1 lead as Zakia Hunt had a pair of kills to start the set. Martin Methodist took the next two points to tie it at 3-3. The Blue Devils than went on a 12-5 run to take a 15-8 lead on the RedHawks. Lawrence Tech would close the set out with an ace from Varvara Gromakova to take it 25-15.

Martin Methodist took the Blue Devils to the limit in the second set, beating them 29-27 but not before LTU mounted a 7-3 run to take an 18-17 lead. The RedHawks went back up 22-19, but LTU battled back to tie it at 23-23. Jessica Lodge gave Lawrence Tech the lead at 24-23, but a pair of kills by Martin Methodist gave the RedHawks the set 29-27 to tie the match at 1-1.

In the third set, the Blue Devils took a 4-1 lead as Martin Methodist committed a trio of errors to start the set. With Mackenzie Fisher and Lodge serving for Lawrence Tech, the Blue Devils went up 7-4 and extended the lead to 13-7 with Shelby Rasch serving. Martin Methodist struggled to get back into the set as the Blue Devils extended their lead to 18-12. Lodge and Hunt sealed the set with a block to win 25-15 and go up 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set went back-and-forth as the RedHawks took the early lead 5-3, but Lawrence Tech came back to tie it at 6-6. They teams traded point over the next few rallies with nine ties down before Martin Methodist went up 21-18 on an LTU error. The RedHawks went on to win the set 25-19 to tie the match at 2-2.

In the final set of the season, the Blue Devils came out took a 9-4 lead before a pair of seniors sealed the win with a kill – Hunt from Doherty – to take the set 15-6 and win their final match of the game.

Hunt capped her career with a 20 kill evening as she hit .269 on 52 total attacks while Doherty added 41 assists to finish her career with an LTU record 4,390 assists. Gromakova added 12 kills while Lodge finished with 12 kills and seven digs. Brittany Taber recorded three kills and one dig while Mackenzie Fisher added on ace and Alexis Snider finished with two assists and two digs in their final collegiate match.