PREVIEW: Volleyball heads on final road trip of regular season

TUESDAY MATCH
• Michigan Tech wraps up a busy week with its final road matches of the regular season.
• The Huskies play at Wayne State Friday at 7 p.m.
• Tech wraps up the trip at Saginaw Valley State Saturday at 4 p.m.
• The Black and Gold began the week with a sweep of Northern Michigan Tuesday.
• Tech is 16-8 overall and 8-6 in the GLIAC.

WATCH THE HUSKIES
• All home and GLIAC matches, will be streamed on FloSports--except at Wayne State and Purdue Northwest.
• Friday's match at Wayne State can be viewed here.
• 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.

GLIAC STANDINGS ENTERING WEEKEND
1. Ferris State
2. Davenport
3. Northern Michigan
4. Wayne State
5. Michigan Tech
6. Grand Valley State
7. Saginaw Valley State
8. Parkside
9. Lake Superior State
10. Purdue Northwest

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Wayne State – The Warriors hold a 16-9 overall record and a 9-5 mark in the GLIAC. WSU has won its last three matches. The Warriors enter the weekend fourth in the GLIAC standings. Maddy Benoit leads the GLIAC in digs per set (5.31) and Lauren VanderWal ranks fifth in kills per set (3.52).
• Saginaw Valley State – The Cardinals are 10-15 overall and 5-9 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals have dropped their last four and sit in seventh place in the GLIAC standings. Madison Thompson is fourth in the GLIAC in kills per set (3.39).

FIRST MEETING
• SVSU - Tech defeated SVSU 3-1 on October 7 at the SDC Gym. The Huskies won the first two 25-23 and 25-21 before the Cardinals took set three 25-19. The Black and Gold closed it out 25-21 in the fourth.
• Jillian Kuizenga had a match-high 15 kills. Meg Raabe and Makena Wesol each added 11 kills with Raabe adding 18 digs. Lina Espejo-Ramirez racked up 49 assists while adding 10 digs. Carissa Beyer had a career-high 35 digs.
• WSU - Tech swept Wayne State 3-0 on October 8 at the SDC Gym. The Huskies downed the Warriors 25-12, 25-21, and 25-19.
• Jillian Kuizenga went for a match-high 13 kills while hitting .393. Espejo-Ramirez set the attack with 31 assists, and Carissa Beyer finished with 24 digs, averaging 8.43 per set on the weekend.

TUESDAY SWEEP OF NMU
• Michigan Tech led from start to finish in a dominant 3-0 sweep of rival Northern Michigan Tuesday at the SDC Gym.
• The Huskies won 25-15, 25-21, and 25-12 to hand the Wildcats their fourth GLIAC loss of the season and improve to 16-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference.
• Meg Raabe tallied a match-high 17 kills while hitting .421 and adding eight digs and a pair of block assists.
• Makena Wesol added nine kills and Kaycee Meiners finished with eight.
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez set the offense with 32 assists and added nine digs.
• Carissa Beyer hit 20 digs for the seventh time this season and Brooke Dzwik chipped in with 10 digs.
• Janie Grindland put her stamp on the match with four blocks, three kills, and two aces.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies split their weekend downstate.
• Tech defeated Grand Valley State 3-1 Friday and fell 3-0 at Davenport Saturday.
• Jillian Kuizenga (3.57 k/s) led the offense while Lina Espejo-Ramirez (8.71 a/s) set the attack, and Carissa Beyer (5.43 d/s) led the defense.

GLIAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez is third in assists per set (9.62).
• Carissa Beyer is third in digs per set (4.95).
• Morgan Radtke is fifth in solo blocks (15).
• Grace Novotny is eighth in aces per set (0.4).
• Jillian Kuizenga ranks 10th in kills per set (2.96).
• Janie Grindland is 14th in hitting percentage (.247).

1,000 DIGS
• Grace Novotny eclipsed 1,000 digs for her career on August 27 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
• She currently stands at 1,147 digs to rank ninth in program history.
• Novotny ranks 13th amongst active NCAA Division II players with 131 matches played and 16th with 464 sets played.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• August 30 – Setter of the Week – Lina Espejo-Ramirez 
• October 11 – Defensive Player of the Week – Carissa Beyer
• October 18 – Defensive Player of the Week – Carissa Beyer

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
• Jillian Kuizenga – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Carissa Beyer – Otter Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Janie Grindland – Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Carissa Beyer – Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team

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 187 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 regular season wraps up against Parkside (Nov. 4) and Purdue Northwest (Nov. 5) at the SDC Gym.