PREVIEW: Volleyball travels to the Crossover

THIS WEEK'S MATCHES
• Michigan Tech travels to the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament in Indianapolis this weekend.
• The Huskies are the GLIAC's second seed at the tournament and will play the GLVC top seed Drury on Friday at 2:30 p.m., the GMAC No. 3 seed Cedarville at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the GLVC No. 7 seed Illinois Springfield at 4 p.m. Saturday.
• The Huskies are 13-4 overall and 8-1 in the GLIAC. Tech is tied with Ferris State at the top of the GLIAC Standings.

THE CROSSOVER
The 12th annual Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover, the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament, will be held at the Academy Volleyball Club in Indianapolis, Indiana on Oct. 18-19, 2019. The event will pit 16 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) volleyball teams against 13 institutions representing the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and 12 programs from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).

AVCA RANKING
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 24 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
• The Huskies were ranked No. 21 on September 10 and received votes in the preseason poll and in the past four polls.
• Tech was ranked in five polls in 2018. The Black and Gold spent two weeks at No. 24 and three at No. 25 last season.

GLIAC NORTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior outside hitter Olivia Ghormley was been named the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week for the third time this season. She averaged 5.42 kills per set in last weekend's wins, totaling 38 while hitting .462. She had only two attack errors while also digging up 16 balls. She added two service aces and a block. Ghormley leads the GLIAC in kills per set (4.57) in conference matches. She currently ranks seventh in Tech history with 1,066 kills.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Drury is 13-7 overall and 7-0 in the GLVC. The Panthers have won eight straight matches and recently took down No. 12 Rockhurst. They hosted last year's NCAA Midwest Regional and fell in the semifinals to Lewis who also ended Tech's season in the NCAA Tournament.
• Cedarville is 10-6 overall and 5-1 in the GMAC. The Yellowjackets have won four of their last five. They swept Northwood on September 6 at their home tournament and have only lost to No. 17 Hillsdale in conference play.
• Illinois Springfield is 12-7 overall and 4-3 in the GLVC. The Prairie Stars have lost three in a row after winning their previous seven. Against opponents from the GLIAC UIS is 1-2 with a win over Davenport and losses to Saginaw Valley State and Ashland.

IN NEUTRAL SITE MATCHES
Tech is 2-1 against opponents in neutral site matches. The Huskies defeated Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston at the St. Cloud Tournament and fell to No. 6 Minnesota Duluth.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Tech leads the GLIAC in kills per set (14.09) and hitting percentage (.261)
• The Huskies rank third in the league in digs per set (17.36) and opponent hitting percentage (.169)
• The Huskies are 16th nationally in hitting percentage (.261) and 18th in kills per set (14.09)
• Laura De Marchi is fourth nationally in career assists per set (11.75) ranking fifth amongst setters in all three divisions.
• Olivia Ghormley is sixth nationally in career kills per set (3.76)
• De Marchi leads the GLIAC in assists per set (11.96), ranking sixth in the nation
• Ghormley leads the GLIAC in points per set in conference matches (4.7)
• Ghormley is second in the GLIAC in kills per set this season (4.33), ranking seventh in the nation
• Emilia Widen is second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.327)
• Megan Utlak is sixth in the GLIAC in digs per set (4.18)

3,000 ASSISTS
Junior setter Laura De Marchi became the fourth player in program history to tally 3,000 assists on October 4. She currently has 681 assists on the season and 3,145 for her career.

UPCOMING MILESTONES
• Junior Megan Utlak is closing in on 1,000 career digs and currently has 991
• Junior MacAulay Petersen has 877.5 career points and 830 career kills
• Junior Anna Jonynas is also closing in on 1,000 digs and is currently at 938

LAST WEEK
• Tech swept its weekend at home with a 3-0 win over Wayne State Friday and a 3-1 victory over Ashland Saturday.
• Olivia Ghormley (38 kills) and Rachel Ping (17 kills) led the offense with Ghormley averaging 5.43 kills per set. Laura De Marchi averaged 12.86 assists per set, totaling 90 assists on the weekend. Megan Utlak (37 digs), Anna Jonynas (30 digs), and Ping (7 blocks) led the defense.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The 6-0 GLIAC start was the best for the Huskies in over 20 years
• Tech is 22-0 in the GLIAC against teams other than Ferris since the start of last season
• The Huskies are 34-7 in conference play since the start of 2017 with losses only to Ferris State, Grand Valley State, and Northern Michigan
• Tech is 1-4 versus the current top 25. The Huskies defeated Southwest Minnesota State and fell against Upper Iowa, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Ferris State

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings enters his eighth season and has won 124 matches overall.
• Under Jennings, the Huskies have gone from the last place in the conference to nationally ranked and in the postseason.
• Jennings has coached the Huskies to back to NCAA tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018.
• He was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and led the team to a program-record 10 straight wins to start the 2016 season.

AT HOME
• The Huskies are 8-1 at the SDC Gym this season with all seven of the eight wins being sweeps. The lone loss was to current No. 19 Upper Iowa.
• Tech finished 7-1 at home in 2018.

PRESEASON GLIAC POLL
• In the 2019 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Huskies were second in the North Division with 57 points, including four first-place votes.
• Ferris State (61) was the top pick after its fifth straight GLIAC Championship last year. Saginaw Valley State (44), Northern Michigan (33), Northwood (22), and Lake Superior State (14) round out the North.
• Ashland (57) and Wayne State (43) were selected to lead the South Division followed by Grand Valley State (41), Davenport (39), Parkside (24), and Purdue Northwest (12).

LAST SEASON
The Huskies are coming off back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament and three straight second-place finishes in the GLIAC North Division. Tech has won 20 matches in back-to-back season, including the fourth-highest win total and third-fewest losses in a single-season with a 23-7 record in 2018. The Huskies also posted a mark of 14-2 in the GLIAC, the second most conference wins in program history, and the second-highest winning percentage against GLIAC competition in team history (.875).

AVCA ALL-AMERICANS
Outside hitter Olivia Ghormley (Third Team) and junior setter Laura De Marchi (Honorable Mention) were AVCA All-Americans a year ago. Both earned major league awards as Ghormley was the GLIAC Attacker of the Year and De Marchi the GLIAC Setter of the Year for the second straight season. Ghormley tallied 518 kills with an average of 4.58 per set to lead the GLIAC and rank sixth in the nation. De Marchi racked up 1,254 assists and averaged 11.72 per set to lead the league. 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The month wraps up at Parkside and Purdue Northwest on October 25-26.
• November opens at Northern Michigan on November 2 followed by November 8-9 home matches against Ferris State and Northwood.