PREVIEW: Volleyball hits the road to Purdue Northwest and Parkside

WEEKEND MATCHES
• Michigan Tech continues a five-match road trip at Purdue Northwest Friday and Parkside Saturday.
• First serve against the Pride is 7 p.m. Friday.
• Tech and Parkside meet at 3 p.m. Saturday.
• The Huskies began the week with a 3-0 loss at Northern Michigan on Tuesday.
• Tech is 7-5 and 1-4 in the GLIAC

WATCH THE HUSKIES
• All home and GLIAC matches, will be streamed on FloSports—except at Purdue Northwest.
• Friday's match will be streamed on JEDtv.
• 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
• Purdue Northwest is 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the GLIAC. The conference win was over Lake Superior State. The Pride was picked 10th in the GLIAC Preseason Poll. Middle blocker Erica Brohm was named All-GLIAC Honorable Mention last year and is one of five returning starters.
• Parkside is 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the GLIAC. The conference wins are over Wayne State and PNW. The Rangers were picked eight in the GLIAC Preseason Poll. Lexi Packard ranks second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.341) and Jazmine Neal is second in blocks per set (1.06).

TUESDAY RESULT
• Tech fell 3-0 Tuesday at Northern Michigan. The Wildcats won 25-18, 27-25, and 25-14 at Vandament Arena.
• Jillian Kuizenga led the Huskies with 12 kills, hitting double figures for the eighth time this season. Lina Espejo-Ramirez was back in the lineup with 22 assists and nine digs. Carissa Beyer (10 digs) and Brooke Dzwik (9 digs) also stepped up defensively.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies wrapped up a four-match home stand with a weekend split. Ferris State on 3-0 Friday and Tech bounced back with a sweep of Lake Superior State Saturday for the 23rd straight win over the Lakers.
• Jillian Kuizenga (4.0 k/s) led the offense, Olivia Heidel (10.3 a/s) set the attack, and Carissa Beyer (4.5 d/s) led the defense.

GLIAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Lina Espejo-Ramirez is fourth in assists per set (9.1).
• Janie Grindland is fifth in hitting percentage (.301).
• Jillian Kuizenga ranks sixth in kills per set (3.21).
• Carissa Beyer is sixth in digs per set (3.77).
• Morgan Radtke is eighth in blocks per set (0.89).
• Grace Novotny is 11th in aces per set (0.41).

1,000 DIGS
• Grace Novotny eclipsed 1,000 digs for her career on Aug. 27 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
• She currently stands at 1,053 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 178 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 month wraps up at Lake Superior State (Sept. 30) and the five-match road trip ends at Ferris State (Oct. 30).
• The Huskies return to the SDC Gym on October 7 and 8 against Saginaw Valley State and Wayne State before taking a break for the Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament (Oct. 14-15).