Madelynn Kreider

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, Minn.

“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.”

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 of Kingsford 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.”

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For more on MTU volleyball, go to https://www.mininggazette.com/sports/local-sports/2025/09/huskies-volleyball-excited-to-dive-into-conference-play-on-the-road/.