Jillian Kuizenga, right, hits the ball during an AAU match last year. (Provided Photo)

HOUGHTON — Spend just 30 seconds around Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball freshman Jillian Kuizenga, and one thing stands out immediately — her confidence.

The 6-foot-1 right side hitter has spent three of her last five years winning AAU national titles as a member of both the USAV High Performance A2 team, in southern California, and the Sports Performance Volleyball Club, one of the premier clubs in the Midwest, where she was a member of the 18 Red team last season.

She knows what it takes to win.

“The club I played for, it’s been around for a really long time,” she said. “I think that it was like the early 80s that they were established. That place has a long history of expecting you to succeed.”

In her first national championship run, Kuizenga remembers she and her teammates did not believe they were going to win every match, but rather that they were not going to lose any of them. That confidence carried them to victory in 2014.

“Jillian comes from one of the better clubs in the country,” said Huskies head coach Matt Jenings. “(She is) very well trained, very skilled, and has the potential to play a couple of different positions for us.”

In 2016 and 2017, she was named to the Under Armour Phenom List as a member of St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois.

Yet, there was another reason that Michigan Tech was attractive to Kuizenga, familiarity.

“My dad went here, my grandpa went here,” Kuizenga said. “So there’s kind of like a family thing going on. Also, when I came up here on my visit, I just really liked the culture that Coach Jennings and the rest of the team had. I thought it was very unique, and it really drew me here. Also, the education’s phenomenal.”

Jennings’ squads have made the NCAA Regional Tournament each of the past two seasons, which means that they have a similar winning expectation that Kuizenga experienced playing club volleyball in the Chicago area.

“I think, honestly, I love it,” she said. “(I) like the pressure to force yourself to get better. I think it’s really awesome. And I don’t know, I’ve always kind of thrived in environments where you have to do something, you know? It kind of keeps us working hard.”

Given that the Huskies only graduated one senior a year ago in right side hitter Mariah Sherman, Kuizenga and her classmate Morgan Radtke know that they are coming into their freshman campaign attempting to meld with a team that features a very deep, experienced roster that has played together, for the most part, for two full seasons.

“They are super close,” Kuizenga said. “They only graduated one senior, so everyone knows each other super well. But they’ve all been doing a really great job of including us. It’s been really awesome, honestly, to get to know all of them.”

Kuizenga has been battling in practice with fifth-year senior Courtney Kurkie, a 5-foot-10 right side from Plymouth. While they are in competition, the youngster has already been working to learn as much as she can from the older, more experienced player.

“She’s a fifth-year, so she’s had tons of experience,” Kuizenga said. “She just knows so much, so that’s pretty cool.”

Being a right side hitter, Kuizenga is excited to share the floor with the Huskies two outside hitters, juniors Olivia Ghormley and MacAulay Petersen.

“It’s awesome,” Kuizenga said. “It’s pretty inspiring, actually, I am not going to lie. To see them go up and just away. Hopefully I will get there one day.”

Kuizenga has been excited to learn from Ghormley and Petersen in practice, as the right and left side hitters spend a lot of time together, learning the schemes that Jennings wants to run.

As a right side hitter, Kuizenga also knows a big part of her game is being a part of the block, a part of the game that she absolutely relishes.

“Blocking is super fun,” she said. “I just really love going up and getting those blocks. It’s just kind of the nature of the position, you know, to just kind of be there.”

Besides blocking, right sides need to be ready when the setter pushes the ball in their direction.

“We obviously do get set and there’s definitely an advantage to having a strong right side hitter,” she said. “(We have to) just to kind of be there when they need (us).”

Given how close the volleyball team is, the girls have spent time explaining to both of the freshmen what it is like to play in the SDC Wood Gym when the pep band is playing and the court gets loud.

“I’ve definitely gotten a lot of stories from the upperclassmen and honestly, each of them just makes me more and more excited for the season to start and for the balls get rolling with everything,” Kuizenga said. “Honestly, it is super cool to see everything going on and how much support they have.”

Huskies fans will get a great chance to see Kuizenga and her new teammates this week as they host the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic. The Huskies host Southwest Minnesota State at 7 p.m. Thursday.