Michigan Tech’s Carissa Beyer (20) celebrates after a point with her teammates during a match against Wayne State on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

GRAND RAPIDS — With wins in eight of their last 11 matches, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team appears to be heading into the second half of their season in the best position they can be in, confident. They are healthy and playing some of their best volleyball they have all season.

The Huskies are now 14-7 overall and 6-5 in GLIAC play.

A big reason for the turnaround after a rough start to the GLIAC portion of their schedule has been the play of libero Carrisa Beyer. The senior has been instrumental to several aspects of the Huskies’ game, from serving to serve-receive and passing.

She has had such an impact over the past two weeks that the GLIAC has twice named her Defensive Player of the Week and she was also named to the Midwest Region Crossover All-Tournament Team.

“She’s locked in right now, both defensively and with her serve receive,” said Jennings, “and I should say her serving, that’s been also very good.

“She’s making big plays for us. She comes up with a handful of just spectacular plays, too, that really are impressive.”

Alongside the veteran, freshman outside hitter Meg Raabe continues to grow into a six-rotation player. After struggling through an early-season injury, she is developing both her offense and her defense, and her efforts are not lost on Jennings, especially after she racked up 44 kills over the course of the loss to Ashland and the wins over Indianapolis and Cedarville.

“The load we put on to Megan early on in her career, and the season, was quite a bit,” said Jennings. “Now that she’s kind of worked through some of the things, and is starting to feel healthier and more confident, we’re starting to see her perform.”

When she is in the back row, Raabe and Beyer have begun to find chemistry in the serve-receive game, which has led to a significant improvement in how the Huskies deal with the opposing team’s serve.

“They are very comfortable next to each other,” Jennings said. “They are operating verbally, non verbally. They understand, in serve-receive, especially, whose ball it is going to be whose. We’re kind of operating with a two-person, serve-receive here, and it’s been effective.”

Another player who has returned to the lineup to make a significant impact is junior middle blocker Kaycee Meiners. Meiners made her season debut at Lake Superior State on Sept. 30, and after taking four matches to get her feet underneath her, she had a huge impact on the team’s fortunes at the Crossover, where she finished with four kills against Ashland and then 10 each against Indianapolis and Cedarville.

“Kaycee has come back from her injury and played wonderfully,” Jennings said. “She’s come in very confidently. She’s playing with fresh legs, for lack of a better word.”

Getting Meiners back healthy is just what the doctor ordered for the Huskies, who leaned heavily on senior middle Morgan Radtke and fifth-year middle Janie Grindland.

Hitting the road

This weekend, the Huskies hit the road to face the Grand Valley State Lakers on Friday and the Davenport Panthers on Saturday. The Lakers defeated the Huskies at home earlier this season, 3-0, and currently sit fourth in the GLIAC standings at 7-4 in conference play. The Panthers escaped from Houghton with a 3-2 victory. They sit second in the GLIAC with a 9-2 record.

Jennings feels that the team has been looking forward to a rematch with the Panthers.

“That one’s been on our radar for a while, since we kind of dropped the ball last time we played,” Jennings said. “That’s one we’d like back.”

The Panthers feature two outstanding outside hitters in Hayley Kreiger and Lindsay Taylor. Kreiger opened the Crossover with 32 kills against Missouri S&T, and followed that up with 24 against Findlay.

Shutting her down will be a priority for the Huskies.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” said Jennings. “I want to know what they’re feeding her down there. She’s just, she’s something.

“When she gets going, it’s a matter of containing her, not really stopping her.”

The Lakers present an excellent service game that allows them to control the matchups, much like they did with the Huskies earlier this season.

“With the kind of weapons that Grand Valley has on offense, and the setting position, you have to be aggressive in your serving game to get to them,” said Jennings.