Michigan Tech’s Brooke Dzwik celebrates with her teammates after the Huskies score a point against Wayne State during a match Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HAMMOND, Ind. — After earning a pair of wins over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals and the Wayne State Warriors, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team is both enthusiastic and confident heading into the Midwest Regional Crossover. The Huskies improved to 12-6 on season and 6-5 in GLIAC play with the two victories, but, more importantly, they moved up the conference standings into a tie for fifth with the Warriors.

Head coach Matt Jennings believes his team might be in the process of turning a corner considering the fact that they head into the mid-season tournament having won six of their last eight matches.

“I’m very encouraged,” he said. “We put ourselves in exactly the position we needed to, given where we were. We kind of broke free of overthinking some of those early losses, because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The sudden onset of team confidence that has allowed the Huskies to look more like the team was nationally ranked prior to the season has directly linked, according to Jennings, to the play of three freshmen outside hitters in Meg Raabe, Makena Wesol, and Brooke Dzwik.

Raabe jumped out of the gates hot to start the season, peaking with 12 kills in a match against Minnesota-Crookston on Sept. 3. However, until last weekend, she had not gotten more than six kills more than once in nine straight matches.

While her offense dried up, Raabe slowly found other ways to contribute, mainly through her defense, as Jennings and his staff have worked to mold her into a six-rotation player.

“She’s becoming more and more confident, particularly in her attack, and her serve receive,” he said. “Her defense continues to improve as well. Meg is a very intelligent, very skilled, hardworking, young person. She’s going to continue to get better as the season goes on, and as she matures as a player.”

As Raabe struggled to score, Wesol stepped in and helped turn the Huskies’ season around with a 13-kill performance at Wisconsin-Parkside after not seeing any action in three straight matches.

Wesol has had to learn how to adjust on the fly as teams learn about her, but Jennings feels that she has not found her ceiling to this point.

Dzwik has not been able to chip-in offensively as much as her classmates have, but she is quickly turning into an invaluable defender and passer. Friday night, she racked up 18 digs in the Huskies’ 3-1 win over the Cardinals, which was the third time this season she reached double digits.

“Her backrow game has been impressive, I think, since she got here,” Jennings said. “Her defensive skill set is very useful in our system right now. Her passing continues to improve enough so that she’s been a primary passer for us.”

As the freshmen have started to find their way, senior right side hitter Jillian Kuizenga continues to find ways to lead her young teammates on and off the court.

“It’s so fun,” she said after the win over the Warriors on Saturday. “They’re really stepping up in big ways. When it comes to conference, not a lot of freshmen get to do that. They’re taking their chances, (and) sprinting away with it. You feel kind of proud watching them.”

Kuizenga led the Huskies in kills over the weekend with 29, 16 against the Cardinals and another 13 against the Warriors. One of the reasons she was so effective this past weekend was that she managed to get some kills from the left side of the court. She credited the growth of Raabe as part of the reason she could take that chance.

Tough competition

This weekend, the Huskies are in Hammond, Indiana to take part in the crossover tournament. The largest tournament in the region, the crossover features teams from four different conferences all in one place at the same time.

The Huskies will open the crossover with an old GLIAC opponent, the Ashland Eagles, who lead the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Eagles are 16-5 overall and 11-0 in conference play. They enter the tournament on a 13-match winning streak.

The Eagles’ signature win this season is a 3-0 defeat of then-No. 15 Winona State.

Fifth-year outside hitter Erin Krupar is the most dangerous Eagles attacker. She has 226 kills and is averaging 3.92 kills per set.

The Huskies’ second opponent will be the Indianapolis Greyhounds. The Greyhounds come into the weekend 11-7 on the season and 4-3 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. They have two key wins under their belt with a 3-0 win over Minnesota State and a 3-0 win over then-No. 25 Quincy.

Senior outside hitter Grace Hegwood is the Greyhounds most dangerous attacker. She has a team-high 168 kills and averages 2.99 kills per set. Junior middle blocker Hannah Sabotin has also been a matchup nightmare for opponents as she has 163 kills, averaging 3.22 kills per set.

Jennings believes the Greyhounds’ speed makes matchups difficult for opponents.

“Indy is going to play a lot of really good defense and be fast in-system,” he said. “I know that when they’re digging to target, they’re gonna beat teams.”

The Huskies will find out who their third opponent will be after they finish their first two matches on Friday.