PREVIEW: Volleyball travels to LSSU and Ferris State

WEEKEND MATCHES
• Michigan Tech wraps up a five-match road trip at Lake Superior State Friday and Ferris State Saturday.
• First serve against the Lakers is 5 p.m. Friday.
• Tech and Ferris meet at 3 p.m. Saturday.
• Tech is 9-5 overall and 3-4 in the GLIAC.

WATCH THE HUSKIES
• All home and GLIAC matches, will be streamed on FloSports
• Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey with one subscription.
• Cost of a GLIAC FloSports subscription is $19.99 for the month or $149.99 for the year. Discounts are available for subscribers with a .edu email address.
• FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• LSSU – The Lakers are 1-14 overall and 0-7 in the GLIAC. The lone victory is a sweep over Minnesota Crookston which the Huskies also swept. The Lakers were picked ninth in the GLIAC Preseason Poll.
• Ferris State – The Bulldogs are 8-7 overall and 6-1 in the GLIAC. They've won eight of their last nine. Kaylee Maat leads the GLIAC in assists per set (10.11) and service aces per set (0.66). The Bulldogs were picked fourth in the GLIAC Preseason Poll and have been to 10 straight NCAA Tournaments.

FIRST MEETING
• LSSU – Tech swept the Lakers 3-0 on September 17 at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won 25-23, 25-11, and 30-28. Jillian Kuizenga had a career-high 19 kills. Olivia Heidel set the attack with a career-high 39 assists and Carissa Beyer had 15 digs.
• FSU – The Bulldogs won 3-0 over the Huskies on September 16, taking the match 25-14, 25-18, and 25-19. Janie Grindland tallied six kills, Olivia Heidel had 23 assists, and Carissa Beyer notched 12 digs.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies went 2-1 last week with a sweep at Purdue Northwest Friday and a five-set win at Parkside Saturday. The week began with a loss at Northern Michigan Tuesday.
• Jillian Kuizenga (3.09 k/s) led the attack for the week while Lina Espejo-Ramirez (9.18 a/s) set the attack, and Carissa Beyer (4.45 d/s) led the defense. 

GLIAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez is third in assists per set (9.26).
• Grace Novotny is third in aces per set (0.49).
• Morgan Radtke is fifth in blocks per set (0.93).
• Janie Grindland is sixth in hitting percentage (.300).
• Jillian Kuizenga ranks sixth in kills per set (3.13).
• Carissa Beyer is sixth in digs per set (3.96).

1,000 DIGS
• Grace Novotny eclipsed 1,000 digs for her career on Aug. 27 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
• She currently stands at 1,064 digs to rank 12th in program history.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• August 30 - Setter of the Week - Lina Espejo-Ramirez 

HAMPTON INN ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Jillian Kuizenga and Janie Grindland were named to the Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team.
• Kuizenga led Tech's offense at the tournament, averaging 3.2 kills per set while hitting .301. She added 10 blocks and nine digs. Grindland hit .470 and averaged 2 kills per set, 1.3 blocks per set, and 1.1 digs per set.

OTTER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Outside hitter Jillian Kuizenga was named the MVP of Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Invitational and was on the all-tournament team after she averaged 3.25 kills per set on the weekend while hitting .265.
• Setter Lina Espejo-Ramirez and libero Carissa Beyer were also named to the all-tournament team. Espejo-Ramirez averaged 9.58 assists per set and 2.92 digs per set. Beyer led the Huskies' defense with 3.8 digs per set.

PRESEASON GLIAC POLL
• In the 2022 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Huskies were picked second in the GLIAC behind Grand Valley State.
• The Lakers had 68 points and the Huskies received 66 points. Wayne State was third with 64 points and Ferris State (62) rounded out the top four. Davenport (55), Northern Michigan (48), Saginaw Valley State, and Parkside (26) were also in the top eight. Lake Superior State and Purdue Northwester were ninth and tenth.

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 10th season and has won 180 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 four straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2017-21.
• 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.

COACHING PROMOTIONS
• Cindy Pindral was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in the offseason.
• Head Coach Matt Jennings was added to the NCAA Women's Volleyball National Committee and will represent the Midwest Region until September 2026.

LAST SEASON
• Tech finished the 2021 fall season with a 25-7 overall record and ranked No. 22 in the final AVCA Top 25 poll.
• The Huskies won the GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the second straight season and the third time in program history with a 14-1 conference record.
• The Black and Gold went to its fourth straight NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Midwest Regional Semifinal for the fifth time in school history.

ALL-GLIAC RETURNEES
• Carissa Beyer – Fall 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Janie Grindland – Spring 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – Two-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The Huskies return to the SDC Gym on October 7 and 8 against Saginaw Valley State and Wayne State.
• The next week (Oct. 14-15) Tech takes a conference break for the Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament.