PREVIEW: Volleyball travels to SVSU and Wayne State

WEEKEND MATCHES
• Michigan Tech travels downstate to continue its three-and-a-half-week road trip.
• The Huskies play at Saginaw Valley State on Friday at 7 p.m.
• The weekend wraps up at Wayne State at 4 p.m. Saturday.
• The Huskies are 9-11 overall and 5-4 in the GLIAC.
• It will be the first of two meetings with both teams this season. They'll also play in the final home weekend on November 3-4.

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.
• FloSports provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription.
• Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual.
• Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible.
• FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

200 WINS FOR COACH
• Head Coach Matt Jennings won his 200th game on Saturday against Findlay.
• He ranks second in the program history in career wins behind Mary Kaminski (258).

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 11th season with the Huskies and has won 200 matches overall.
• Jennings is on the NCAA Women's Volleyball National Committee and represents the Midwest Region.
• Under Jennings, the Huskies have gone from last place in the conference to nationally ranked and consistently in the NCAA Tournament.
• Jennings 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.

LAST WEEKEND
• Tech volleyball wrapped up its non-conference schedule going 2-1 at the 15th annual Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament.
• The Huskies fell 3-0 to Hillsdale Friday but rebounded with a sweep of Maryville Friday and a 3-2 victory over Findlay Saturday.

CROSSOVER ALL-TOURNAMENT
• Tech senior outside hitter Lindy Oujiri was named to the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team
• Oujiri helped lead the Huskies to a 2-1 record at the Crossover, leading the offense with 43 kills, averaging 4.3 per set while hitting .298. She also added a pair of block assists.
• The team captain tied a career-high with 20 kills in the sweep of Maryville Friday evening and hit .457. She put down 20 kills again on Saturday in the 3-2 victory over Findlay with a .302 hitting percentage.
• She has hit double-digit kills in 16 matches this season and has career highs in kills (257), digs (30), and blocks (24).

GLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Oct. 9 – Lindy Oujiri – GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week
• Oct. 9 – Tess Hayes – GLIAC Setter of the Week

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• SVSU – The Cardinals are 3-17 overall and 0-9 in the GLIAC. The three wins are over Shippensburg, Lake Erie, and Ursuline. SVSU ranks third in the GLIAC in digs per set (15.04) and fourth in blocks per set (1.94). The Cardinals were picked seventh in the GLIAC Preseason Poll after going 5-13 in the GLIAC last season. Tech won both meetings last season.
• WSU – The Warriors are 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the GLIAC. The conference wins have been over SVSU and Parkside. Kayla Dulgar ranks second in the GLIAC in assists per set (9.82) and Kayla Giroux is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.378). The Warriors were the fifth pick in the GLIAC Preseason Poll after going 12-6 a season ago in conference play. In last year's meetings, each team swept on its home court in the regular season before the Huskies ended Wayne State's season in the GLIAC Quarterfinal in Detroit.

GLIAC STATISTICAL RANKING
• Tech leads the GLIAC in total blocks (160) and is third in blocks per set (2.19)
• Kaycee Meiners – 1st in total blocks (78)
• Kaycee Meiners – 1st in blocks per set (1.07)
• Lindy Oujiri – 2nd in total kills (257)
• Lindy Oujiri – 3rd in kills per set (3.57)
• Tess Hayes – 4th in assists per set (9.37)
• Kaycee Meiners – 10th in hitting percentage (.307)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Kaycee Meiners was named to the UP Open All-Tournament Team after averaging 2.29 kills per set while hitting .410 and tallying nine blocks.
• Lindy Oujiri was named to the Up North All-Tournament Team after leading the Huskies with 3.62 kills per set while adding eight blocks.

GLIAC PRESEASON POLL
1    Ferris State - 79 (7)
2    Grand Valley State - 70 (1)
3    Northern Michigan - 67 (2)
4    Michigan Tech - 53
5    Wayne State - 51
6    Davenport - 44
7    Saginaw Valley State - 34
8    Lake Superior State - 24
9    Parkside - 18
10  Purdue Northwest – 10

NEW ASSISTANT
• Mallory Nickelson was named an Assistant Coach with Michigan Tech volleyball in February.
• Nickelson was a four-year starting libero and setter at future GLIAC member Roosevelt University and was recently an assistant coach for two seasons at UW-Stevens Point.

CAPTAINS
Senior outside hitter Lindy Oujiri, redshirt junior middle blocker Kaycee Meiners, and sophomore defensive specialist Alayna Corwin are team captains for 2023.

LAST SEASON
• Tech finished the 2022 season 20-10 overall record, winning 20 matches for the fifth consecutive season.
• The Huskies went 11-7 in GLIAC play and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Semifinal for the sixth straight season.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The Huskies wrap up the long road trip at Davenport (Oct. 27), Grand Valley State (Oct. 28), and Northern Michigan (Oct. 31).
• The final home weekend is Wayne State (Nov. 3) and Saginaw Valley State (Nov. 4).
• The regular season wraps up at Ferris State (Nov. 10) and Lake Superior State (Nov. 11).