PREVIEW: Tech and NMU meet in GLIAC Semifinals

THIS WEEK'S MATCHES
• Michigan Tech plays Northern Michigan in the GLIAC Semifinals Saturday in Big Rapids. First serve is at 5:30 p.m. at the Ewigleben Sports Arena.
• It is the third year in a row the Huskies will play in the semifinal.
• Tech is the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 7 Grand Valley State 3-1 Wednesday in the quarterfinal round to advance. NMU is the sixth seed and upset No. 3 seed Ashland to advance.
• No. 1 Ferris State and No. 5 Wayne State will play in the first semifinal at 4 p.m.
• The 2019 GLIAC Tournament Championship match will be at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

THE MATCHUP
• Tech and NMU also met in the GLIAC Semifinals in 2017 when the Huskies advanced to the GLIAC Championship with a 3-1 win at Ferris State.
• The Huskies have won six straight matches over the Wildcats.

AVCA RANKING
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 23 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
• Tech was No. 22 last week, No. 20 on November 5, No. 21 on October 29, No. 22 on October 21, No. 24 on October 15, No. 21 on September 9, and has received votes in every other poll this season.
• The No. 20 ranking was the highest since the preseason poll in 1998 and the highest regular-season ranking since 1996.
• 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.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Northern Michigan is 13-15 overall and 8-8 in the GLIAC. The Wildcats have won two in a row and are 3-3 in November.
• Mike Lozier is in his third season as the head coach at NMU.
• Lizzy Stark is fourth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.59) to lead the Wildcats offense. Alli Yacko leads the defense at 3.46 digs per set and Lauren Van Remortal sets the attack with 9.84 assists per set.

FIRST MEETINGS
• Tech swept NMU in both meets this year. The Huskies won 25-16, 27-25, and 25-23 on September 24 at the SDC Gym. Tech won 27-25, 25-20, and 25-21 on November 2 in Marquette.
• Olivia Ghormley averaged 4 kills per set in the two matches. Laura De Marchi had 11.8 assists per set, and Megan Utlak had 4.2 digs per set.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
• Tech is ranked fifth in the Midwest in this week's NCAA Regional Rankings.
• Tech holds a 21-5 record against in-region opponents.
• Teams ahead of the Huskies in the regional rankings were Lewis, Hillsdale, Missouri-St. Louis, and Ferris State.

NCAA SELECTION SHOW
• The NCAA Division II Volleyball Selection Show will air Monday, November 25 at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
• The Huskies are looking to go to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
• Junior Laura De Marchi has been named to the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District Volleyball First Team. De Marchi is a setter from Milan, Italy and holds a 3.83 grade-point average in Biomedical Engineering.
• She now advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot which will be announced in December.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Tech is second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.252)
• The Huskies rank third in GLIAC in assists per set (12.93), kills per set (13.82), digs per set (17.52) and opponent hitting percentage (.168)
• Laura De Marchi is fourth nationally in career assists per set (11.72) and fifth amongst setters in all three divisions
• Olivia Ghormley is seventh nationally in career kills per set (3.79)
• De Marchi leads the GLIAC in assists per set (11.70), ranking seventh in the nation
• Ghormley is second the GLIAC in kills per set (4.20), ranking 14th in the nation
• Ghormley is second in the GLIAC in points per set (4.62)
• Megan Utlak is third in the GLIAC in digs per set (4.57)
• Emilia Widen is fourth in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.318)

MILESTONES THIS SEASON
• Junior Olivia Ghormley recorded her 1,000th career kill on September 28 against Lake Superior State at the SDC Gym.
• Junior Laura De Marchi tallied her 3,000th career assist on October 4 at Northwood.
• Junior Megan Utlak hit the 1,000-dig mark for her career on October 18 against Drury at the Crossover.
• Junior Anna Jonynas tallied her 1,000th career dig on November 8 versus Ferris State at the SDC Gym.
• Junior MacAulay Petersen notched her 1,000th career point on November 15 at Saginaw Valley State. She also has 967 career kills.

LAST WEEK
• Tech splits its final weekend of the regular season. The Huskies won 3-1 at Lake Superior State Friday and fell 3-2 at Saginaw Valley State Saturday.
• Olivia Ghormley (28 kills) and MacAulay Petersen (28 kills) led the offense. Briana Sharkey averaged 9 assists per set, totaling 81 on the weekend. Megan Utlak (32 digs), Sharkey (32 digs), and Morgan Radtke (15 blocks) led the defense.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Huskies finished the regular season 21-6 overall and 13-3 in the GLIAC, winning 20 matches three seasons in a row for the first time since 1997.
• The 6-0 GLIAC start was the best for the Huskies in over 20 years.
• Tech is 28-1 in the GLIAC against teams other than Ferris since the start of last season.
• The Huskies are 39-9 in conference play since the start of 2017 with losses only to Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Northern Michigan, and Saginaw Valley State.
• Tech is 1-5 versus the current top 25. The Huskies defeated Southwest Minnesota State and fell against Upper Iowa, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Ferris State.
• Tech is 5-1 against opponents in neutral site matches.
• The Huskies went 8-3 against its nonconference opponents.
• The Huskies are 7-3 in road matches so far this season.

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings enters his eighth season and has won 133 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 went 10-2 at the SDC Gym in 2019 with seven of the nine wins being sweeps. The losses were to current No. 21 Upper Iowa in the Keweenaw Classic and No. 18 Ferris State.
• Tech finished 7-1 at home in 2018.

GLIAC NORTH PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Olivia Ghormley – October 21
• Olivia Ghormley – October 14
• Olivia Ghormley – September 30
• Laura De Marchi – September 23
• Olivia Ghormley – September 9

SWEEPING THE COMPETITION
• Tech has 13 3-0 sweeps this season.
• The Huskies had six straight sweeps to begin the 2015 season and finished the season with 14.
• Tech had 12 sweeps in each of the last two seasons.

CROSSOVER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Laura De Marchi and Olivia Ghormley were named to the 12th annual Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row. Of 41 teams at the Crossover, Tech was the only team with two players honored.
• De Marchi set up the Tech offense with 139 assists, averaging 12.64 per set. She added 30 digs, averaging 2.73 per set, six kills, and five blocks.
• Ghormley led Tech with 58 kills on the weekend, averaging 5.27 per set. She hit .329 with only 12 errors on 140 attempts while adding 28 digs, four service aces, and two block assists.

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.