Five Huskies receive GLIAC volleyball awards and honors

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The GLIAC announced its award winner and all-conference teams at the GLIAC Championship Banquet Friday (Nov. 22) in Big Rapids. The Huskies had the Setter of the Year in Laura De Marchi, the Attacker of the Year in Olivia Ghormley, and the Coach of the Year in Matt Jennings.

De Marchi and Ghormley were also honored on the All-GLIAC First Team, MacAulay Petersen earned All-GLIAC Second Team Honors, and Megan Utlak received All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honors.

De Marchi received GLIAC Setter of the Year honors for the third straight season after leading the conference in assists per set at 11.71 to rank seventh in the nation and sixth in program history. She tallied her 3,000th career assist on October 4 and currently ranks third in program history with 3,448 assists. The junior setter from Milan, Italy also tallied 232 digs, 72 kills, 33 blocks, and 16 service aces. She had 12 matches with 40 assists, five with 50 assists, and one with 60 while also notching 12 double-doubles. She was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row, and was the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week on September 23.

Ghormley is the GLIAC Attacker of the Year for the second consecutive season. She was third in the conference in kills per set (4.13) and points per set (4.5) in the regular season. The junior outside hitter from Oneida, Wisconsin notched her 1,000th career kill on September 28. She was on the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team for the second straight season and was the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week four times. Ghormley tallied double-digit kills 24 times in 2019, including seven matches with 20 kills. She also added 10 double-doubles after averaging 2.32 digs per set. She added 26 blocks and 26 service aces. Ghormley is currently sixth in program history with 1,224 kills.

Jennings received GLIAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career after he guided Michigan Tech to 20 wins for the third season in a row—something that hadn't been done since 1997. The Huskies also had their highest regular-season ranking since 1996 when they were No. 20 on November 5. Tech went 6-0 to begin GLIAC play for the first time in over 20 years and is 27-1 in the GLIAC against opponents other than Ferris State over the last two seasons.

Petersen also received All-GLIAC Second Team honors in 2017 and had a comeback season in 2019 after an injury-shortened 2018. She averaged 2.9 kills per set as an outside hitter. The junior from Paw Paw, Michigan had 17 matches with double-digit kills while also tallying 69 digs and 36 blocks. For her career, Petersen had 967 kills, averaging 2.93 per set.

Utlak is an honorable mention pick for the second season in a row. She anchored the backcourt with 4.61 digs per set, ranking third in the GLIAC and fourth on Tech's single-season chart. The libero from Parma, Ohio recorded her 1,000th career dig on October 18 and currently ranks eighth in program history with 1,209 digs. She tallied 20 digs in eight matches this season while also tallying 71 assists.

The No. 23-ranked Huskies play at 5:30 p.m. in the GLIAC Semifinal Saturday against Northern Michigan at Ferris State. The host Bulldogs and Wayne State will play in the first semifinal at 4 p.m.