PREVIEW: Volleyball heads to NCAA Midwest Regional

NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL
• No. 20 Michigan Tech plays Wayne State in the NCAA Midwest Regional Quarterfinal Thursday at noon.
• The Huskies are the No. 2 seed and Wayne State is the No. 7 seed.
• Top-seed Ferris State hosts the regional at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids.
• The Huskies defeated the Warriors in both regular-season matchups.

THURSDAY REGIONAL MATCHUPS
• Noon - Match 1: #2 Michigan Tech vs. #7 Wayne State
• 2:30 p.m. - Match 2: #3 Hillsdale vs. #6 Grand Valley State
• 5:00 p.m. - Match 3: #1 Ferris State vs. #8 Rockhurst
• 7:30 p.m. - Match 4: #4 Lewis vs. #5 Missouri-St. Louis

SEMIFINAL AND CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday, December 3
• 5 p.m. - Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2
• 7:30 p.m. - Winner Match #3 vs. Winner Match #4
Saturday, December 4
• 5 p.m. - Midwest Region Championship

WATCH THE MATCH
• The match will be streamed for free through Ferris State at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ferris/

BY THE NUMBERS
• Tech is making its 4th straight NCAA Tournament.
• The Huskies have been in the NCAA Tournament 11 previous times.
• The last NCAA Tournament win was in 2019 with a sweep of Missouri-St. Louis.
• Tech has advanced to the regional semifinals 4 times (1993, 1994, 1995, 2019).
• The Huskies have advanced to the regional championship 3 times (1993, 1994, 1995).

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
• The Warriors are 20-8 overall. Head Coach Tim Koth was named GLIAC Coach of the Year after WSU finished third in the conference.
• The Huskies defeated the Warriors in their two regular-season meetings, winning 3-1 at the SDC Gym and sweeping in Detroit.
• Kamryn Duffield (setter), Jenna Kray (middle blocker), Lauren Vanderwal (outside hitter) were named to the All-GLIAC First Team.
• Taylor Wanger (outside hitter) and Halle Shell (middle blocker) were on the All-GLIAC Second Team.

2021 ALL-GLIAC SELECTIONS
• Anna Jonynas – GLIAC Player of the Year, All-GLIAC First Team
• Laura De Marchi – GLIAC Setter of the Year, All-GLIAC First Team
• Olivia Ghormley – All-GLIAC First Team
• Carissa Beyer – All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – GLIAC Honorable Mention

GLIAC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
• Michigan Tech won the GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the third time in program history (1994, 2021 Spring, 2021).
• Tech won its first outright regular-season championship.
• The Huskies won their first back-to-back regular-season championship.
• Tech went 44-4 in sets during the GLIAC regular season and finished with the highest conference winning percentage in program history at 93 percent.

AVCA POLL
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 20 in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.
• Tech has received votes in all 12 AVCA Top 25 polls and were No. 25 on October 11, No. 20 on October 18 and 25, No. 22 on November 1, and No. 21 on November 8 and No. 20 last week.
• The Huskies were ranked in eight AVCA Top 25 polls during the spring season and finished at No. 24.

CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
• Laura De Marchi has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Volleyball Team for the third straight season.
• De Marchi is a setter from Milan, Italy, and holds a 3.79 grade-point average in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Laura De Marchi leads the GLIAC and is sixth in NCAA Division II in assists per set (11.48).
• Olivia Ghormley is fourth amongst active NCAA Division II players in career kills (1,620).
• De Marchi is second amongst active NCAA Division II players in career assists per set (11.77) and fourth among players from all Divisions.
• Tech leads the GLIAC and is ninth in the nation in kills per set (14.46).
• The Huskies lead the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.257).
• Tech is third in the GLIAC in digs per set (16.98).
• Anna Jonynas is second in the GLIAC and 14th nationally in kills per set (4.1).
• Carissa Beyer is third in the GLIAC in digs per set (4.21).
• Anna Jonynas is third in the GLIAC with 44 service aces.
• Olivia Ghormley is fifth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.24).

ALL-TIME DIG LEADER
• Megan Utlak became Michigan Tech's all-time leader in career digs on November 21 in the GLIAC Championship.
• After tallying 53 digs in the GLIAC Tournament, and 31 in the finale, Utlak eclipsed Jacqueline Aird's record of 1,882.
• She tallied 242 digs as a freshman, 511 in 2018, 543 in 2019, 279 in the spring, and 310 this season.

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 1,620 kills and is fourth amongst active NCAA Division II players.
• Ghormley currently ranks fifth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.24). She is 10th amongst active NCAA Division II players in career kills per set (3.70) which ranks fourth in program history.

MILESTONE MARKS
• Laura De Marchi – 5,427 assists (1st in program history)
• Olivia Ghormley – 1,620 kills (1st in program history)
• Megan Utlak – 1,885 digs (1st in program history)
• Anna Jonynas – 1,682 digs (3rd in program history)
• Laura De Marchi – 1,369 digs (7th in program history)
• Anna Jonynas – 1,223 kills (7th in program history)

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 10th season and has won 170 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 with the 2021 team repeating the feat in outright fashion.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Anna Jonynas – Sept. 13
• Anna Jonynas – Sept. 27
• Anna Jonynas – Oct. 4
• Olivia Ghormley – Oct. 18
• Carissa Beyer – Nov. 15

GLIAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Anna Jonynas averaged 4.33 kills per set and 3.25 digs per set in the three matches. She also added five block assists and a pair of service aces.
• Laura De Marchi set the offense for the Huskies with 11.25 assists per set in the GLIAC Tournament. She also was critical on the defensive side with 4.42 digs per set. De Marchi added three block assists, a solo block, and four service aces.

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
• Anna Jonynas – GLIAC Player of the Year, 2-time All-GLIAC First Team
• Laura De Marchi – GLIAC Player of the Year, 5-time GLIAC Setter of the Year, 5-time All-GLIAC First Team & GLIAC Freshman of the Year
• Olivia Ghormley – 3-time GLIAC Attacker of the Year & 4-time All-GLIAC First Team
• Carissa Beyer – All-GLIAC Second Team
• Megan Utlak – All-GLIAC Second Team & 2-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention
• Janie Grindland – All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – 2-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The NCAA Championship is December 9-11 in Tampa, Florida.