Michigan Tech Lode
SPORTS
Tuesday, April 15
15
2013-14 Michigan Tech sports in review Continued from page 13
Photos by Maxwell Curtis
while the women placed 12th out of 15. Both squads are relatively young with deep talent. Runners will be training throughout the summer in hopes of returning for a strong fall season.
Nordic Skiing
A very snowy winter set up the Huskies for a successful winter of Nordic skiing. Highlights included placing tenth in the College Cup standings after the US National Championships and placing in the top-five at the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Championships and NCAA Central Regional Championships. Placing tenth in the College Cup was one of the team’s goals from the get-go of the season. Accomplishing that goal shows that Michigan Tech Nordic is among the top-ten best collegiate ski programs in the country. Top finishes from the four day event included Alice Flanders’ 23rd place finish in the women’s 20-kilometer freestyle and Jay Woodbeck’s 39th place in the men’s 15-kilometer classic race. The CCSA Championships and NCAA Central Regional Championships were the teams’ two biggest meets of the year. In both cases, the men’s team finished fourth out of seven teams. The women finished third out of eight teams at the CCSA Championships and fourth out of eight at regionals. Flanders was the Huskies’ top skier making headlines this season. The junior took first place in the women’s freestyle events in back-to-back weeks at the Telemark JOQ and Mt. Itasca CCSA Invite for which she earned CCSA Skier of the Week. In addition, she placed sixth overall in the CCSA standings, making her the only Husky to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Flanders placed 31st in the five-kilometer classic and 10th in the 15-kilometer freestyle, resulting in an 18th place finish out of 23 teams at the NCAAs. Her 10th place freestyle finish was an All-American performance. Flanders and teammate Deedra Irwin were named to the CCSA First Team. Matt Wong earned CCSA Second Team honors.
Hockey
The Michigan Tech Hockey Huskies have had a ride of ups and downs since October. Triumphant victories and disappointing losses, both big and small, were a part of their 2013-14 season. The season began with a series of games outside of the WCHA, playing the likes of Minnesota Duluth, Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State, only taking a victory against the Spartans from East Lansing. But after a slow start to the
season, the Huskies started earning wins with goals coming from veterans and rookies alike. Come the Great Lakes Invitational, the team advanced in a shootout victory in the first round against Michigan State. Unfortunately, they fell short in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Broncos of Western Michigan. The year before, MTU shut out WMU 4-0 in the GLI championship game. Following the holiday break, Tech went on to win eight of its 16 remaining regular season games. In the post season, the Huskies lost to the Bowling Green Falcons in two straight games in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The Huskies finished the season with an overall record of 14-19-7, and a conference record of 12-11-5 to give them fifth place in the WCHA. In the post-season, two Hockey Huskies signed professional contracts. Senior captain Brad Stebner signed with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL, a New York Islanders affiliate, and sophomore goaltender Pheonix Copley signed a contract with the Washington Capitals.
Men’s Basketball
The 2012 and 2013 GLIAC Champion men’s basketball team of Michigan Tech opened their regular season with a 78-58 win against Minnesota Duluth, setting the tone for what would be a very successful season for the team. The team fell short of a third consecutive GLIAC Championship against Findlay back in early March but later earned their right to face Drury in the NCAAA Tournament Regional Championship. They defeated Southern Indiana and Indianapolis in the first round and semifinal matchups. Although they lost in the championship, the team held a 24-8 record at the conclusion of their season. The Huskies treated the fans in Houghton to a 13-2 home record. The Huskies were able to overcome the likes of Ferris State, Grand Valley, Wayne State, Saginaw Valley and Northern, just to name a few, in their race to the top of the GLIAC standings. In the process, they went 16-6 in the conference. The Huskies finished second in the GLIAC North division, bested only by Lake Superior State in the standings. LSSU topped the combined standings of the North and South divisions while Michigan Tech found themselves in fourth place at the end of it all below the Lakers, Findlay and Walsh. The team accomplished a lot this season and will seek to only improve upon their efforts come early November in the next fall semester.
Women’s Basketball
While the women’s basketball team seemed to struggle a little more than the men’s, they also had another successful
season. The Huskies kicked off conference play with an impressive 11-game win streak before eventually falling to No. 1 Wayne State. Wayne State was the only team to beat the Huskies both at home and in Houghton. In fact, the Huskies only lost two games at home. They put on a 12-2 record in front of their home fans in the SDC wood gym. Tech battled to a three-way tie for second in the conference along with Northern Michigan and Ashland after posting a 16-6 conference record. With the tie breaker, the Huskies ended up landing the third place seed into the GLIAC Tournament. The team advanced to the GLIAC Tournament semifinal game after defeating Saginaw Valley State 69-63 in an overtime GLIAC quarterfinal win at home. Unfortunately, the semifinal match against Northern was the end of the road. During the regular season, Tech and Northern went 1-1 against one another, each winning while playing on their home court. Northern stole the third game, however, winning the semifinal 59-54 to end the Huskies’ season. Overall, Tech put forward a 19-9 record.
Volleyball
Michigan Tech Volleyball went 6-12 this year in the conference and were 10-20 overall. They landed a 12th place overall conference finish after placing seventh in the GLIAC North division. Head Coach Matt Jennings has lifted the program significantly since he took over in 2012. The year before Jennings was hired, the Huskies did not win a single conference game and went 0-19 in the GLIAC. Highlights from this year include the team’s lone sweep in conference play against Lake Erie and a 3-2 win at Lake Superior State, which ended a five-game losing streak. The Huskies had many close five-set matches. Their record does not necessarily portray an accurate reflection of their hard work and dedication. Senior setter Madeline Haben was one of the team’s top athletes throughout the season. She ended her career second in Tech history with 3,993 assists and sixth with 1,092 career digs. Haben was recognized after the team’s first tournament early this fall. She was named to the all-tournament team after the Huskies went 1-3 at the Winona State Warrior Classic. At the end of the season, Haben was also named to the GLIAC Second Team. Tech will be without its four seniors come next fall, but the team has already had six high school seniors sign National Letters of Intent to play for the Huskies. Jennings will look to continue building the program in his third year as head coach.