Michigan Tech setter Tess Hayes (10) and middle blocker Paige Wagner (4) extend their arms to attempt a block during a match against Ferris State last season at the SDC Gym. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — After seven matches, including two against Top-25 opponents, and several NCAA regional qualifiers, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team hits the road again this weekend. This trip, however, marks the beginning of GLIAC play, as the Huskies will take on the No. 12 Ferris State Bulldogs and the Davenport Panthers.

With losses to Minnesota-Duluth, then-No. 17 Barry (now 11), and then-No. 10 St. Cloud State (now 16) before a win over Adelphi, the Huskies are 3-4 on the season. However, first-year head coach Cindy Pindral was not surprised by her team’s finish in the Up North Tournament last weekend in Duluth and St. Cloud, Minnesota.

“We actually finished kind of where we expected,” she said. “You never quite tell the players where you think you’re going to be, but going into it, we were hoping for a win. We knew that this tournament was going to be tough, and we knew many months ago that it was going to be tough.”

The Huskies took the No. 24 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs the distance in the opening match of the weekend.

“I’m happy that we were able to battle very well with Duluth,” Pindral said. “I thought that match was very well-played. We had them on the ropes at a couple different times, but Duluth, I guess we lost a little bit of steam in the fourth set, and we weren’t really quite able to recover, but I thought, at times, we were excellent. We were very, very sharp with our serving game, and we had a really good strategy.

“Sometimes, the home team finds a way, so that was one of those instances. But, I was very proud of our team for battling, especially in that Duluth match.”

Against the two ranked opponents on Saturday in St. Cloud, Pindral, while not happy with a pair of 3-0 losses, felt that her team learned a lot from the experience.

“Friday was a bit of a whirlwind,” she said. “Barry was probably the most unique match that we’ll ever play. The majority of their roster are international students, most of them from Eastern European countries. They play a completely different style of volleyball, very high, very methodical in what they do, and they ran a funky system in that the middle was following the center. So, it just looks different than what most of the teams that we play do. We struggled a little bit just with all of the players switching on the other side, and I think we got distracted instead of just simply playing the ball in front of us.”

Pindral pointed out that the Buccaneers’ height was a lot to deal with as well. But, she was happy to see her team find its way against St. Cloud in the nightcap.

“The St. Cloud match was, overall, a good one,” she said. “You can definitely tell that St. Cloud is ranked where they are for a reason. They’re very strong with their ball control, and their middles are lights out. They’re smaller middles than typically you see, but they’re super athletic, and they just find really awesome ways to score. So, kudos to St. Cloud for doing what they do.”

One of the things that worked out for the Huskies over the course of the weekend was the play of junior middle blocker Tricia Kennedy, who was named to the All-Tournament Team.

“Trisha comes up with big blocks at excellent times,” said Pindral. “She has a knack for blocking on game point, or close to game point, to give us an advantage. So, she certainly sharpened up through the course of the Adelphi match.”

While Kennedy continues to improve, a first-year Huskies player also had an impact as the weekend went along. In the match against Minnesota-Duluth, setter Madelynn Kreider had just two assists. On Friday, against Barry, she put up 18, then got to start against St. Cloud, and had 21, before putting 20 in the win over Adelphi.

“Maddie’s a natural leader, and she is a very humble person, as well,” Pindral said. “She keeps her nose down, and she works really hard in practice. She says enough to lead her team along, but it’s not overbearing, or anything like that. She certainly kind of knows her place as a freshman, or as a first-year person. But, at the same time, she’s very, very talented, and she’s just been continuing to improve practice after practice. So, it just got to a point where we’re like, ‘Let’s give her a shot.’ She took her shot, she ran with it, and she was excellent.”

Junior setter Tess Hayes, who has started almost every match since she stepped on campus, is still a big part of the plan.

“I think we’re going to keep playing the combination 6-2 offense with her (Kreider) and Tess,” said Pindral. “It’s just a little bit more of a balanced offense. It allows our setters to really focus on setting in defense, rather than having to block and dump. They’re not the tallest setters in the world, and that’s not like their forte, (but) they’re certainly good at it. Backcourt defense is a little bit more of their focus.”

Scouting the Bulldogs

The Bulldogs come into this weekend 5-3 on the season after splitting at the Colorado Premier Challenge. They defeated Regis and No. 14 Concordia-St. Paul, but fell to No. 19 West Florida and No. 4 Metropolitan State-Denver.

They are led by sophomore outside hitters Gabby Piazza, who has 110 kills, and Emily May, who has 80.

Add to them senior outside hitter Emma Bleecher (58) and junior middle hitter Lilly Peterson (46) and the Bulldogs have four players with more than 40 kills in their lineup.

Scouting the Panthers

The Panthers are 3-4 on the season after coming away from the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic. They beat Tiffin to open the tournament, but lost to No. 25 Findlay and then-No. 16 Gannon.

They are led by junior outside hitter Abby Alan, who has 91 kills. Junior outside hitter Karley Pretzer has 79 kills. Senior middle blocker Kaitlin Jordan has 61 kills.

Game times

The Huskies and Bulldogs do battle Friday at 5 p.m. in Big Rapids. Saturday, the Huskies and Davenport are set to start at 2 p.m. in Grand Rapids.