Huskies volleyball backs into Crossover after sweep on the road
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HOUGHTON -- After winning three of four matches to improve to 9-7 on the season, the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team stumbled last weekend in a sweep at the hands of the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers, and a five-set loss to the Purdue Northwest Lions.
With the losses, the Huskies fell to 9-9 overall and 5-5 in GLIAC play, which moved them into a tie with Parkside, and Davenport. The Huskies enter the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament this weekend as the fourth seed for the GLIAC.
"Not our best weekend," said Huskies coach Cindy Pindral. "I didn’t think that we were mentally tough enough to really pull out some of the wins. I felt like we weren’t really as prepared as we should have been going into arguably two places that are very notoriously hard to play. So, disappointing."
The good news is that Pindral believes that the team is not satisfied with how the weekend progressed.
"I don’t think anybody on the team is happy with the way that we played, but we had a very frank conversation in our team meeting yesterday about just that," she said. "Looking ahead to the future, what goals that we have, and what goals are still available on the table as far as our long-term season goals, there’s still a lot of things that can happen. There’s still a lot of goals to be had.
"We’re not going to let one weekend define us, but what really is going to matter is how we rebound from this. I’m hopeful, because we’ve shown time and time again, over the course of the season, that we can rebound from setbacks. Our 9-9 record overall is deceiving in the sense that seven of those nine losses are in five. So, it proves that we’re battling. We have the ability to be right there with any team. So, it’s really on us to decide when we want to be tough."
Pindral wants to see her team play the way she knows it is capable of.
"It’s frustrating in the sense that we just didn’t play to our potential," she said. "We’ve got a lot of things that we’re doing right, and there’s a lot of people that show up day in, day out, but it takes a whole team. We’ve talked very frankly about that as well as our practices need to be more competitive.
"Everyone needs to be bought into the little things, whether it’s turning in your food orders on time, doing the little things skill-wise in practice every day. Championships and first place trophies don’t come just out of the blue because of sheer talent. It comes because of all the little 1% things you do along the way."
One player that Pindral feels is taking her words to heart is freshman outside hitter Kayla Heinonen. She paced the Huskies' attack against the Rangers with 10 kills, and had another nine against the Lions. Her coach is comparing to her to sophomore setter Madelynn Kreider, who really shone as a first-year player last season.
"I think Kayla has continued to cruise in the sense that she is a predictable player," Pindral said. "You know what you’re going to get out of her, night in, night out, even in practice. She works hard every single day.
"Kayla is working on herself. I think it’s really impossible to ask a freshman to be a leader of the team. I know we did that a little bit with Maddie Kreider last year, but Kayla is working on her own things. She’s got some technique things and some scoring opportunity things that she’s trying to employ."
Scouting the Oilers
In their first match Friday, the Huskies will face the Findlay Oilers. The Oilers enter the Crossover 10-7 overall and 7-2 in G-MAC conference play after a weekend that saw them sweep Northwood before defeating Ohio Dominican in five sets.
Senior outside hitter Hannah Miller leads the team in scoring with 298 kills this season. Fifth-year right side hitter Lauren Foerster has 141 kills. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Smith is the third Oilers hitter with over 100 kills at 122.
Sophomore middle hitter Victoria Mescher has been very good in the service game, with a team-high 27 aces. Miller is second on the team with 24.
Scouting the Tritons
The Missouri-St. Louis Tritons are the second team the Huskies will face Friday. The Tritons lead the GLVC with a record of 8-0 in conference play. They are 13-5 overall. They come into the Crossover having topped Maryville in five sets Friday and Missouri S&T Saturday in a sweep.
Junior right side hitter Alayna Santel leads the Tritons' attack with 287 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Bridget Cassady is second with 235 kills. Junior outside hitter Maggie Johnson has also been very good, racking up 220 kills.
Santel leads the service game with 38 aces. Sophomore setter Marly Burbach has also been good, racking up 23 aces.
Game times
The Huskies and Oilers will meet Friday morning at 9 a.m. The Huskies and Tritons will battle at 2 p.m. How those two matches go will determine who Michigan Tech faces Saturday. All matches in the Crossover will be played in Hammond, Indiana, at the Hammond SportsPlex.