Huskies Ready for Showdown with Northern Michigan

HOUGHTON – Michigan Tech concludes their lengthy stay away from home with an important road match against rival Northern Michigan on Tuesday (Sept. 11) at 7:00 p.m. inside the Vandament Arena.

Michigan Tech (8-2, 2-0 GLIAC) is on a roll to start conference play, sweeping both Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State this past weekend while limiting both opponents to a combined .064 attack percentage. On offense, the Huskies achieved a cumulative attack percentage of .285, hitting 93 kills on 228 attempts with only 28 errors across the two matches.

Sophomore Olivia Ghormley continues her torrid start to the season with 33 kills and only six errors against 70 attempts for a .385 attack percentage against Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State, earning her GLIAC North Player of the Week honors. Her solid week adds to her season stats of 166 kills and 4.49 kills per set, putting her atop the conference, and a .295 attack percentage. Senior Mariah Sherman, with 107 kills and .254 attack percentage, and sophomore Laura DeMarchi, with a league-leading 374 assists and 11.69 assists per set, are another pair of dangerous weapons for the explosive Michigan Tech offense.

On the defensive end, MTU has three players in triple-figures in digs. Leading the way is sophomore Megan Utlak with 163, good for sixth in the conference. Following her on the team is sophomore Anna Jonynas with 132, and freshman Grace Novotny with 101. Making up 22 of the team's 47 total blocks is junior Rachel Ping with 22, followed by Sherman's 21.

Northern Michigan (9-1, 1-1 GLIAC), is looking for a measure of revenge after being knocked out of the semifinal of the 2017 GLIAC Tournament by the Huskies. The Wildcats have started the season strong, winning their first nine games before stumbling against Saginaw Valley State on Saturday. As a team, the Wildcats rank second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.231), kills (539), kills per set (13.82), and assists (494).

Picked to finish third in the North Division, the Wildcats return a pair of All-GLIAC honorees in Sarah Kuehn and Leticia Antunes. Kuehn is hitting .364 with 102 kills against 31 errors on 195 attacks, and Antunes leads the team with 144 kills and is second with 132 digs. Kuehn also leads the team in total blocks with 35, and Rachel Braunschweig is the team-leader in digs with 168.

The opening serve between the two U.P. rivals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. For live stats and a live video stream, head over to the team schedule page at MichiganTechHuskies.com.