Huskies volleyball returns home looking to move up GLIAC standings
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HOUGHTON -- After a lengthy road trip that saw the Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball team play four conference matches, and three non-conference, they return home this weekend for the first two of four to close out the regular season. The Huskies are 12-11 overall, and 7-5 in GLIAC play, which puts them in a four-way tie for third with four conference matches remaining.
They helped themselves out last weekend by coming from two sets down Friday against No. 19 Grand Valley State to win in five sets. Saturday, the Huskies defeated Roosevelt in straight sets.
"It was a great one for us," said Huskies coach Cindy Pindral. "I don’t think anyone had it on their bingo card, a reverse sweep on the road quite in that fashion, but it was really fun.
"The team is just in a really good spot right now, and we’ve been working very hard in practice and off the court to get in a competitive mindset that we’ve been bringing every single day. So, it’s just really exciting to see it come to fruition this weekend."
The Huskies trailed 2-0 to Grand Valley before winning sets three and four. Then they trailed 5-1 in the fifth set before winning it 15-13. It was just the Huskies' second five-set win of the season in 11 tries.
"At minimum, we’ve been practicing resilience all year," Pindral said. "We’ve been talking about it the whole time. Of all the five-setters we’ve been a part of, from maybe having a poor match or something like that, and then immediately rebounding with a fantastic match, that’s kind of been the whole theme of this year, rebounding, resilience, all of that.
"We’ve shifted our focus a little bit into be more, or, I suppose less needing to rebound, and more of just continuing on a strong path. So, thankfully, we have the tools in our toolbox now to know how to react, and have that psychological safety of, if we do make a mistake, everything’s fine."
Leading the Huskies' attack in that match was freshman right side hitter Reagan Lesley, who set a career high with 20 kills.
"(We) were in a meeting with her yesterday, just recapping everything, and I was like, 'Well, what did you see?' Or like, What did we find?' said Pindral. "It was awesome, because she told me, 'I could see everything. I knew exactly where every single defender was. I knew all the open spots. I could see the block. I could see everything.'"
Lesley was seeing the court in much the same way senior outside hitter Rachel Zurek sees it, and that led to a Huskies' attack that was easy to chart.
"She (Lesley) was able to see all the things happening in real time and make very educated decisions," Pindral said. "She had excellent placement on all of her swings, and we were looking at her shot chart, and Rachel’s as well. Rachel had a very good game in that one, too. The shot chart for outsides, the program we use, if you see all the lines of where you score, usually if it scores in the court, it’s a line and then a dot as to where the ball landed. But, our shot chart was just straight lines, so through lines, meaning it was off the block and high every time; indefendable balls past the block.
"Defenders can’t turn and run and get there. So, high hands is always a great place to swing, and we definitely executed that over and over again, and that played a huge part in our hitting efficiency."
Lesley earned Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Junior libero Keeley Nellis was also honored by the GLIAC for her defensive play.
"Keeley is fabulous when she turns it on, and when she decides, 'That ball is not going to hit ground, and I’m going to really make a difference in this match,'" said Pindral. "Then it’s lights out, game over. She was awesome.
"Keeley does so much to lead our team in the backcourt-sense of things. She also has a really good line of communication with our attackers as well, because she’s not jumping up and hitting, but she has the vision behind the attacker. She’s in their ear telling them what shot is available or suggesting shots that are available."
Scouting the Warriors
The Wayne State Warriors are 12-11 on the season, and 5-7 in GLIAC play after a week that saw them fall to Davenport, 3-2, and then defeat Wisconsin-Parkside, 3-1.
The Warriors are led offensively by senior outside hitter Katie Smith, who has 273 kills this season. She is also tied for tops in the serve-receive game with 29 aces, alongside freshman middle blocker Doga Muhtaroglu.
Junior right side hitter Kyleigh Weck has also been very good, racking up 193 kills.
Scouting the Lakers
The Grand Valley State Lakers are 18-6 overall and 10-2 in GLIAC play after losing to the Huskies last weekend before defeating Wisconsin-Parkside in five sets, 3-2.
Freshman outside hitter Finley Arp leads the team with 231 kills this season. She also leads the serve-receive game with 36 aces. Sophomore setter Gabby Orlet is second with 28 aces.
Senior middle hitter Paige Sanders has 217 kills.
Game times
The Huskies and Warriors will battle Friday at 6 p.m. in the SDC Gym. Saturday, the Huskies and Lakers expect an opening serve at 2 p.m.