HOME STRETCH
Wayne State has three matches remaining in the regular season, all of which will be played at the Matthaei. The Warriors host the University of Findlay on Tuesday evening for Faculty Appreciation Night. The Warriors will sponsor a canned food drive on Friday as WSU faces Michigan Tech. Saturday's finale against Northern Michigan will be Senior Day.


WEEK IN REVIEW
Wayne State won its final two road matches of the regular season last week. Thursday's 3-1 win at Ashland was WSU's first victory at Kates Gymnasium since 2001. The Warriors extended their winning streak to three with a 3-0 result at Lake Erie on Saturday.

Katarzyna Sak led WSU with 33 kills, a .466 hitting percentage and eight blocks. Maureen MacDonald hit .429 with a career-high 18 kills Thursday, and also collected 11 digs for a double-double. Cydney Biessel averaged 11.71 assists per set.

With 10 GLIAC wins, Wayne State reached double-digits in conference victories for the first time since the 1999 squad won 12 GLIAC matches.


SCOUTING FINDLAY
Findlay will wrap up a three-match road trip Tuesday in Detroit. The Oilers, coming off a 3-1 victory on Halloween at Lake Erie, are led up front by freshman Danielle Taflinger and junior Jessica VonIns, who both rank among the top 10 in hitting percentage in the GLIAC. Senior Megan Florence is dangerous at the service line, having racked up a league-best 48 aces this season.

Wayne State has won five straight matches against Findlay, including a 3-1 result on Oct. 1 at Croy Gymnasium. Madie Kent hit .345 with 12 kills and eight digs versus the Oilers, and Sak led WSU with 13 kills and four service aces.


SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH
Last Friday's 3-0 victory at Lake Superior State was just the third conference win of the season for the struggling Huskies, who are in the middle of a five-match road trip to close out the year. Junior Kristine Sexton comes into this week ranked ninth in the GLIAC with a 3.00 kills/set average. Sophomore Madeline Haben is 10th in assists (7.41 per set), as is senior Alicia Schnieder in aces (0.38 per set).

The Warriors have lost two straight five-set decisions to the Huskies but have won three of the last six meetings overall. Sak totaled 13 kills, hit .500 and collected six blocks against MTU a year ago.


SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The nationally-ranked Wildcats won their first 17 matches of the season before losing 3-0 to Indianapolis in their final match of the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover on Oct. 16. Despite consecutive GLIAC losses to Grand Valley State on Oct. 24 and Northwood last Friday, Northern Michigan is positioned for a playoff berth in 2010. NMU will play at Hillsdale on Friday and will wrap up the regular season Sunday at Findlay.

A balanced attack has led to three Wildcats - freshman Ana Lopes, sophomore Sami Vierk, and junior Emma Wolfe - having over 200 kills this season.

Wayne State is looking for its first victory over Northern Michigan since Sept. 15, 1990. The Wildcats have won 26 straight over the Warriors.


AT THE HELM
Phil Nickel is in his third season as Wayne State's head volleyball coach and has a record of 48-32. In his five-year career, which includes two seasons at Thomas More College, Nickel is 82-75.

Wick Colchagoff is 281-166 in his 13th season at Findlay and 361-225 overall including a three-year stint at Nebraska Wesleyan. Orlando Gonzalez is 19-33 since taking over the Michigan Tech volleyball program in August 2009. The former Rutgers head coach has a six-year career mark of 38-91. NMU head coach Dominic Yoder is 79-39 in his fourth season and 104-43 overall including his 2006 season at Cameron University.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
MacDonald's double-double Thursday at Ashland was her fourth of the season, tied with Kent for second-most on the team. Biessel has a squad-best five double-doubles this year.

Sak ranks among the top six players in the conference in hitting percentage (.323), kills (3.90 per set), service aces (0.50), blocks (1.18) and points (5.07). The sophomore eclipsed the 500-kill mark for her career on Saturday and broke into the top 25 all-time at WSU.

Biessel is second to Ashland's Crystal Elliott with a 10.26 assists/set average. Lindsey Graciak is sixth in the conference with 4.18 digs per set.