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Sisterly advice: Maggie Petersen excited to join her sister, MacAuley, at Michigan Tech

Photo provided to the Daily Mining Gazette Paw Paw defensive specialist Maggie Petersen digs up a serve during a match last season. Petersen joins her sister, MacAulay, this season with the Huskies.

HOUGHTON — Often when an athletic recruit visits Michigan Tech’s campus, they do so without knowing anyone in the classrooms, let alone someone on the team that they are looking to potentially play for. That cannot be said for incoming defensive specialist Maggie Petersen of the volleyball team.

Petersen’s older sister, MacAulay, is one of the Huskies’ top offensive talents, having been named to the All-GLIAC Second Team and averaging 3.42 kills per set.

Having an older sister who knows the coaching staff, and can help her transition, made the Paw Paw (Michigan) native’s choice much easier.

“I was exposed to the culture here,” said Maggie. “That made it easier (to make my decision). MacAuley always spoke very highly of it, so that helped with my decision a lot.”

Of course, it also helps that Michigan Tech known for its engineering programs as well.

“I always wanted to be an engineer,” said Maggie. “So this school is obviously a very good choice.”

When it comes to Maggie, head coach Matt Jennings feels that while he already has one Petersen who works extremely hard, he is excited to bring in a second one to do the same.

“I don’t think anyone works harder than MacAuley on our team,” said Jennings. “You know the character, the hard work and the work ethic.

“(Maggie) is well-trained, with a good club background. She brings a good combination of passing and defense. We feel very comfortable about her work ethic.”

The 5-foot-7 defender, who stands three inches shorter than her older sister, comes in with a working knowledge of what Jennings is looking for and she feels that is an advantage.

“It is nice because you know how good of a program he is building,” Maggie said. “It’s really cool to see the program growing, especially from such a small school.”

Like her older sister, Maggie played high school volleyball for her home school of Paw Paw. She played on the varsity team all four years she was there. She also served as team captain for her last two seasons. She started her career as an outside hitter, but eventually transitioned to defense, where she was able to shine.

As a junior in 2016, she was named to the Wolverine Conference Honorable Mention. She followed that up with a strong senior campaign where she was named to the Second Team All-Conference and also earned team Most Valuable Player honors.

“I didn’t really know I wanted to be a defensive specialist at first,” said Maggie. “I was an outside, but very undersized. I have always passed, and I like passing.”

As a defensive specialist, most of the time Maggie is focused on moving the ball to the setter so that she can place a shot for the hitters.

“(I want to) just get a good ball for the setter to get to the hitter,” said Maggie. “(I want to) always get playable touches when I am back there.”

Throughout high school, Maggie played for the USA Michigan Volleyball Club, giving her a chance to travel quite a bit. This should help her transition to the road experience in the GLIAC, where the closest opponent for the Huskies, Northern Michigan, is 100 miles away.

Maggie is also highly intelligent in the classroom, which should help translate to smart play on the court. She has been a member of the National Honor Society since 2015 and was named All-State in Michigan for individual academics last year.

The younger Petersen is excited about getting the chance to help continue what her older sister and Jennings have been building over the past few seasons.

“It’s very exciting to see where he is taking the program,” Maggie said, “especially from that two-win season (before he took over) all the way to where it is now.”

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