PREVIEW: Season Begins in California for No. 23 Huskies

OTTER INVITATIONAL
• No. 23 Michigan Tech is in Seaside, California for the Otter Invitational hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay.
• The Huskies play four matches on the weekend. Tech plays Cal Poly Pomona at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Friday to begin the season and then wraps up the day against Academy of Art at 5:30 p.m.
• Cal State Dominguez Hills is the first opponent Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and then the weekend wraps up against tournament-host Cal State Monterey Bay at 5:30 p.m.

WATCH THE HUSKIES
• Matches at the Otter Invitational will be streamed on the CAA Network. It costs $9.95 to watch for the weekend.

PRESEASON GLIAC POLL
• In the 2022 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Huskies were picked second in the GLIAC behind Grand Valley State.
• The Lakers had 68 points and the Huskies received 66 points. Wayne State was third with 64 points and Ferris State (62) rounded out the top four. Davenport (55), Northern Michigan (48), Saginaw Valley State, and Parkside (26) were also in the top eight. Lake Superior State and Purdue Northwester were ninth and tenth.

AVCA POLL
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 23 in the AVCA NCAA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Huskies finished No. 22 in the final poll after the fall 2021 season with a 25-7 overall record.
• Opponents on Tech’s schedule in the preseason poll are No. 20 Ferris State and Cal Poly Pomona who was just outside of the top 25.

COACH JENNINGS
• Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 10th season and has won 171 matches overall.
• Under Jennings, the Huskies have gone from last place in the conference to nationally ranked and consistently in the NCAA Tournament.
• Jennings has coached the Huskies to four straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2017-21.
• He was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2017 and led the team to a program record of 10 straight wins to start the 2016 season.
• The 2021 spring team won a GLIAC Regular Season title for the second time in program history with the 2021 team repeating the feat in outright fashion.

COACHING PROMOTIONS
• Cindy Pindral was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in the offseason.
• Head Coach Matt Jennings was added to the NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Committee and will represent the Midwest Region until September 2026.

LAST SEASON
• Tech finished the 2021 fall season with a 25-7 overall record and ranked No. 22 in the final AVCA Top 25 poll.
• The Huskies won the GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the second straight season and the third time in program history with a 14-1 conference record.
• The Black and Gold went to its fourth straight NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Midwest Regional Semifinal for the fifth time in school history.

ALL-GLIAC RETURNEES
• Carissa Beyer – Fall 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Janie Grindland – Spring 2021 All-GLIAC Second Team
• Jillian Kuizenga – Two-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The Huskies travel to the Parkside Tournament on Sept. 2-3 for another nonconference tournament. Tech plays Upper Iowa and McKendree on day one and Illinois-Springfield and Minnesota Crookston to wrap up the weekend.
• The GLIAC schedule gets underway the following weekend with the first home matches of the season against Davenport (Sept. 9) and Grand Valley State (Sept. 10).
• A four-match homestand continues against Ferris State (Sept. 16) and Lake Superior State (Sept. 17).