PREVIEW: Volleyball begins postseason at Wayne State

PREVIEW: Volleyball begins postseason at Wayne State

GLIAC QUARTERFINAL
Date Wednesday, November 9 | 7 p.m.
Location Matthaei Gym | Detroit, Mich.
Video Stream Wayne State
Live Stats Wayne State
Tournament GLIAC Tournament Central
GLIAC VB GLIAC Standings
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GLIAC QUARTERFINAL
• Michigan Tech begins the postseason Wednesday at Wayne State in a GLIAC quarterfinal matchup.
• The Huskies are the fifth seed and the Warriors are the fourth.
• First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Matthaei Gym.
• The teams split during the regular season. Each team won on its home court.
• Tech finished the regular season 19-9 overall and 11-7 in the GLIAC.

OTHER GLIAC MATCHUPS
• No. 8 Lake Superior State at No. 1 Ferris State
• No. 7 Saginaw Valley State at No. 2 Northern Michigan
• No. 6 Grand Valley State at No. 3 Davenport.
• The winners advance to the GLIAC Semifinals on Friday hosted by the highest remaining seed.
• The GLIAC Championship is Saturday.

WATCH THE HUSKIES
• All home and GLIAC matches, will be streamed on FloSports.
• Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey with one subscription.
• Cost of a GLIAC FloSports subscription is $19.99 for the month or $149.99 for the year. Discounts are available for subscribers with a .edu email address.
• FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

FINAL GLIAC STANDINGS
1. Ferris State (16-2)
2. Northern Michigan (14-4)
3. Davenport (13-5)
4. Wayne State (12-6)
5. Michigan Tech (11-7)
6. Grand Valley State (10-8)
7. Saginaw Valley State (5-13)
8. Lake Superior State (4-14)
9. Parkside (3-15)
10. Purdue Northwest (2-16)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Wayne State finished the regular season 19-10 overall with a 12-6 record in the GLIAC.
• The Warriors have won six of their last seven and went 9-4 on their home court.
• Maddy Benoit leads the GLIAC in digs per set (5.19) and Lauren VanderWal ranks third in kills per set (3.52) and is the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week. Kamryn Duffield is third in the conference in assists per set (9.77).

REGULAR SEASON MEETINGS
• Oct. 8 in Houghton - Tech swept Wayne State 3-0 on Homecoming Saturday at the SDC Gym. The Huskies downed the Warriors 25-12, 25-21, and 25-19. Jillian Kuizenga went for a match-high 13 kills, including seven in the third, while hitting .393. Janie Grindland (8) and Meg Raabe (7) combined for 15 kills. Lina Espejo-Ramirez set the attack with 31 assists, and Carissa Beyer finished with 24 digs, averaging 8.43 per set on the weekend.
• Oct. 28 in Detroit - Tech team fell 3-0 at Wayne State Friday. The Warriors won 25-20, 25-17, and 25-20. Jillian Kuizenga led the Huskies with nine kills. Makena Wesol and Janie Grindland combined for a dozen kills and Meg Raabe added five. Lina Espejo-Ramirez set the attack with 31 assists. Carissa Beyer registered a match-high 26 digs.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies swept its final weekend of the regular season with a 3-0 win over Parkside Friday and a 3-0 sweep of Purdue Northwest Saturday.
• Meg Raabe (4.57 k/s) led the offense, while Lina Espejo-Ramirez (11.86 a/s) set the attack, and Carissa Beyer (3.86 d/s) led the defense.

GLIAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez is second in assists per set (9.91).
• Carissa Beyer is third in digs per set (5.05).
• Grace Novotny is fifth in aces per set (0.4).
• Janie Grindland is eight in blocks per set (0.79)
• Jillian Kuizenga ranks 11th in kills per set (2.94).
• Morgan Radtke is 12th in hitting percentage (.261).

TEAM STATS RANKINGS
• Tech leads the GLIAC and is 30th nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.156).
• The Huskies are third in the GLIAC in digs per set (16.76).
• Tech is fourth in the conference in assists per set (11.61) and kills per set (12.51).

1,000 DIGS
• Grace Novotny eclipsed 1,000 digs for her career on August 27 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
• She currently stands at 1,182 digs to rank ninth in program history.
• Novotny ranks 10th amongst active NCAA Division II players with 479 sets played and 12th with 135 matches played.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• August 30 – Setter of the Week – Lina Espejo-Ramirez 
• October 11 – Defensive Player of the Week – Carissa Beyer
• October 18 – Defensive Player of the Week – Carissa Beyer

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
• Jillian Kuizenga – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Carissa Beyer – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Janie Grindland – Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Carissa Beyer – Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team

PRESEASON GLIAC POLL
• In the 2022 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Huskies were picked second in the GLIAC behind Grand Valley State.
• The Lakers had 68 points and the Huskies received 66 points. Wayne State was third with 64 points and Ferris State (62) rounded out the top four. Davenport (55), Northern Michigan (48), Saginaw Valley State, and Parkside (26) were also in the top eight. Lake Superior State and Purdue Northwester were ninth and tenth.

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 10th season and has won 190 matches overall.
• Under Jennings, the Huskies have gone from last place in the conference to nationally ranked and consistently in the NCAA Tournament.
• Jennings has coached the Huskies to four straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2017-21.
• He was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2017 and led the team to a program record of 10 straight wins to start the 2016 season.
• The 2021 spring team won a GLIAC Regular Season title for the second time in program history with the 2021 team repeating the feat in outright fashion.

COACHING PROMOTIONS
• Cindy Pindral was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in the offseason.
• Head Coach Matt Jennings was added to the NCAA Women's Volleyball National Committee and will represent the Midwest Region until September 2026.

LAST SEASON
• Tech finished the 2021 fall season with a 25-7 overall record and ranked No. 22 in the final AVCA Top 25 poll.
• The Huskies won the GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the second straight season and the third time in program history with a 14-1 conference record.
• The Black and Gold went to its fourth straight NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Midwest Regional Semifinal for the fifth time in school history.

ALL-GLIAC RETURNEES
• Carissa Beyer – Fall 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Janie Grindland – Spring 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – Two-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The GLIAC Semifinal is Friday, November 11 followed by the GLIAC Championship on November 12.
• The NCAA Regionals are November 17-19.
• The NCAA Elite Eight and Championship are December 1-3 at Royal Brougham Pavilion in Seattle, Washington.