SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team will open the 2021 season on the road in a weekend series against the Michigan Tech Huskies. The pair of matches will open on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3:00 p.m. and close on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 1:00 p.m. Both Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contests will take place at the Student Development Complex Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich.
The Lakers look to build on last season's improvements and continue its progress towards resurgence this season after more than a year since their last match. Following a 8-19 overall record (2-14 GLIAC) during the 2019 season, head coach Dave Schmidlin will guide the Lakers as he enters his fourth season in the role at Lake Superior State.
This season, the Lakers will play a conference-only schedule, playing all 14 games against GLIAC opponents. The regular season will be spread out over seven weeks with games on back-to-back days against the same opponent. Next weekend, the Lakers will welcome the Ferris State Bulldogs (Feb. 26-27) to kick off their home schedule.
Last season, the Lakers posted the program's best record since the 2011-12 season and recorded a four-game winning streak for the first time in nine seasons. Among the other notable moments of the Lake Superior State 2019 season was the team's road win at Northern Michigan and winning a set against the No. 20 ranked Michigan Tech Huskies.
The majority of the Lakers roster will be returning this season as LSSU graduated two players: middle blocker, Caitlyn Kane and All-GLIAC honorable mention player, Amanda Reid, an outside hitter who finished her career with the Lakers near the top of many categories in the program's record book. This year's roster is composed of mainly sophomores and juniors as all but four student-athletes are not part of those classes.
Seniors Kyra Vezina, an outside hitter, and Sarah Bailey, an outside hitter, will be looked upon by Coach Schmidlin for leadership on and off the floor this season. Vezina appeared in 24 matches and 80 matches last season as a defensive specialist, totaling 167 digs and 19 assists. Bailey appeared in all 27 matches during the 2019 season and was third on the team with 154 kills.
The junior class of middle hitter Bethany Wilson, middle hitter Camdyn Odykirk, setter Halle Grulke, and defensive specialist Rylee Eisenga will all be key returners for this year's Laker team. Wilson, who appeared in all 27 matches last season, ranked fourth on the team in kills with 132 and first on the team with 43 blocks. Odykirk registered the second most kills on last year's team, and the most among returning players, with 189. Odykirk totaled a .246 hitting percentage during the 2019 season and also added 39 blocks, which was second best on the Lakers. Grulke, who also appeared in all 27 matches for the Lakers as a sophomore, posted a team-leading 679 assists which ranked 10th among all GLIAC players last season.
The Lakers will also look for contributions from this year's sophomore class of outside hitter Kaitlyn Bishop, outside hitter Taylor Fleming, libero Sydney Briney, outside hitter Malia Howe, middle hitter Nina White, defensive specialist Katja Wilhelms, defensive specialist Kayla Wilhelms and setter Emily Kalinowski. Briney, who was the only freshman to play in all 27 matches last season, ranks first among all returning Lakers in digs last season with 209.
Two freshmen will join the Lakers this season - Emily Hagelthorn, a libero/defensive specialist from South Lyon, Mich. and Emilee McDaniel, a middle blocker from Manistique, Mich.
Scouting the Huskies
The Michigan Tech Huskies ranked first in the GLIAC North Division Preseason Poll with 60 points, and finished the 2019 season with a 24-8 overall record. The Huskies qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and advanced with the program's first NCAA win since 1995.
The Huskies are led by head coach Matt Jennings, who is in his ninth season guiding Michigan Tech and has won 135 matches in his tenure. Last season, Jennings was named GLIAC Coach of the Year.
Michigan Tech will be led by the pair of Laure De Marchi, who is a three-time GLIAC Setter of the year and three-time All-GLIAC First Team selection, and Olivia Ghormley, who is a two-time GLIAC Attacker of the Year and two-time All-GLIAC First Team selection. Last season, De Marchi led the GLIAC in assists per set at 11.59 to rank seventh in the nation. In addition, the Huskies setter added 260 digs, 81 kills, 40 blocks, and 20 service aces.
As a junior, Ghormley ranked third in the GLIAC in kills per set (4.03) and points per set (4.4). She tallied double-digit kills 25 times in 2019, including seven matches with 20 kills.
Follow the Lakers
Due to State of Michigan, GLIAC and Lake Superior State University mandates, fans are not currently permitted to attend any Laker sporting events. Even though spectators cannot currently attend Laker home games, there are still a number of ways that fans will be able to follow the game action. All Laker home games during the 2021 season will be available to watch live on Stretch TV. For more information or to sign up for a subscription, visit https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lssu/. Fans can also access live stats on lssulakers.com
For more information, visit lssulakers.com
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