PREVIEW: Volleyball travels to Minnesota Duluth Tuesday

TUESDAY AT UMD
• No. 20 Michigan Tech travels to Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday (Oct. 26) for the final nonconference match of the regular season.
• The Huskies and Bulldogs meet a 7 p.m. (Eastern) at Romano Gym.
• Tech is 17-4 overall and atop the GLIAC standings with a 9-1 conference mark.
• The Black and Gold have won 12 straight with three consecutive sweeps.

FIRST MEETING
• Tech opened the 2021 season with a sweep of UMD at the Keweenaw Classic on September 2. The Huskies won 25-18, 27-25, and 25-23.
• Jillian Kuizenga and Olivia Ghormley each had 15 kills. Laura De Marchi had 42 assists and four Huskies had double-digit digs led by Megan Utlak with 16.

AVCA POLL
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 20 in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Poll for the second week in a row.
• Tech has received votes in all nine AVCA Top 25 polls and was No. 25 on October 11.
• The last time Tech was ranked as high as No. 20 was November 4, 2019.
• The Huskies were ranked in eight AVCA Top 25 polls during the spring season and finished at No. 24.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Minnesota Duluth is 14-7 overall and 7-6 in the NSIC.
• The Bulldogs have won four straight and are 4-3 at home.
• Sydney Lanoue is the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Week after tallying a new UMD record of 35 digs in a sweep of MSU Moorhead last week.
• Cianna Selbitschka leads the offense, averaging 4.16 kills per set.
• Jim Boos is in his 20th season as head coach of the Bulldogs. He has led the team to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances.

LAST WEEKEND
• No. 20 Michigan Tech extended its winning streak to 12 games with a pair of victories on the road against GLIAC South Division opponents last weekend.
• The Huskies swept Parkside Friday and Purdue Northwest Saturday.
• Olivia Ghormley (3 k/s) and Anna Jonynas (2.83 k/s) led the offense. Laura De Marchi set the attack (7.83 a/s) while Megan Utlak (4 d/s) anchored the defense.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Laura De Marchi leads the GLIAC and is seventh in NCAA Division II in assists per set (11.34).
• Olivia Ghormley is second amongst active NCAA Division II players in career kills (1,576).
• De Marchi is second across all NCAA divisions in career assists per set (11.77)
• Tech leads the GLIAC and is ninth in the nation in kills per set (14.4).
• The Huskies are second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.245).
• Tech is third in the GLIAC in digs per set (16.78).
• Anna Jonynas is second in the GLIAC and 20th nationally in kills per set (3.97).
• Carissa Beyer is fourth in the GLIAC in digs per set (4.28).
• Anna Jonynas is fourth in the GLIAC with 31 service aces.
• Olivia Ghormley is sixth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.23).

ALL-TIME KILLS LEADER
• Olivia Ghormley became Michigan Tech's all-time leader in kills on October 15 when she notched her 1,547th kill in the third set against Lewis.
• Ghormley enters this weekend with 1,574 kills and is second amongst active NCAA Division II players.
• Ghormley currently ranks sixth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.23). She is eighth amongst active NCAA Division II players in career kills per set (3.72) which ranks third in program history.

MILESTONE MARKS
• Laura De Marchi – 5,050 assists (1st in program history)
• Olivia Ghormley – 1,574 kills (1st in program history)
• Megan Utlak – 1,789 digs (2nd in program history)
• Anna Jonynas – 1,571 digs (4th in program history)
• Laura De Marchi – 1,263 digs (8th in program history)
• Anna Jonynas – 1,083 kills (8th in program history)

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Anna Jonynas – Sept. 13
• Anna Jonynas – Sept. 27
• Anna Jonynas – Oct. 4
• Olivia Ghormley – Oct. 18

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 10th season and has won 163 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 three straight NCAA tournament appearances and the program's first NCAA win since 1995.
• 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.

CROSSOVER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Carissa Beyer was named to the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team after averaging 5.17 digs per set on the weekend.
• She tallied 15 digs against Lewis, 25 digs versus Missouri S&T, and 17 against Hillsdale.
• Beyer ranks fourth in the GLIAC in digs per set at 4.28.

PRESEASON GLIAC POLL
• In the 2021 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Huskies led the North with 51 points and four first-place votes. Northern Michigan was one point back while also taking a pair of first-place votes. Northwood (34), Wayne State (28), Saginaw Valley State (22), and Lake Superior State (10) rounded out the North in spots three through six.
• Grand Valley State was the top choice in the South Division with 44 points and four first-place votes. Ferris State garnered 39 points and one vote. Davenport (31) was third followed by Parkside (19) and Purdue Northwest (12).

LAST SEASON
• Tech went 11-4 overall last season and held a 9-3 GLIAC mark to capture the program's second GLIAC North Division title.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
• Laura De Marchi was named an Academic All-American in 2020-21 to become the fourth Michigan Tech volleyball to earn the award.
• She led NCAA Division II setters with 12.72 assists per set in the spring.
• De Marchi set the school record for career assists on April 2 and also holds the school records for career assists per set (11.8) and season assists per set (12.72).
• De Marchi also reached 1,000 career digs in 2021.

ALL-GLIAC RETURNEES
• Laura De Marchi – GLIAC Player of the Year, 4-time GLIAC Setter of the Year, 4-time All-GLIAC First Team & GLIAC Freshman of the Year
• Olivia Ghormley – 3-time GLIAC Attacker of the Year & 3-time All-GLIAC First Team
• Anna Jonynas – All-GLIAC First Team
• Megan Utlak – All-GLIAC Second Team & 2-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention
• Janie Grindland – All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – All-GLIAC Honorable Mention

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The seven-match road trip wraps up at Northern Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 30).
• Tech hosts Northwood (Nov. 5) and Lake Superior State (Nov. 6) for the final home weekend of the regular season.
• The season wraps up at Saginaw Valley State (Nov. 12) and Wayne State (Nov. 13).