DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (10-11 overall, 3-7 GLIAC) hosted 18th-ranked Ferris State (17-4 overall, 9-1 GLIAC) on Friday night and the Warriors battled winning sets one (25-18) and set four (25-20) but fell in five sets.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Taylor Wagner (St. Joseph, Mich. / Lakeshore) and Olivia Fike (North Branch, Mich.) teamed up for a block early in the opening set to give WSU a 5-3 lead.  Another block from Fike pushed the home advantage to 9-6.  Lauren VanderWal (Caledonia, Mich.) connected on a kill to give the Warriors a 14-7 lead before Wayne State won the race to 20 and led 20-15 following another point from VanderWal.  Two kills from VanderWal plus points from Wagner and Madelyn Krenz (Chenoa, Ill. / Prairie Central) sealed the 25-18 victory.

The Bulldogs won the first three points of the second set but a kill from Krenz tied the game at 7-7.  However, FSU led 16-10 and 20-12 as the bulldogs controlled the tempo.  Ferris State would win 25-15 to even the match at 1-1.

Ferris State led 9-3 to begin the third set and eventually 13-8.  The Green & Gold trimmed the deficit to two, 16-14, after an FSU error and a block from Fike.  Summer Farris (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington) kept the margin at two, 19-17, with a kill.  Kills from Krenz and Wagner brought WSU within one, 23-22, but the visitors took the next two points to win 25-22.

WSU set the tone early in the fourth set by jumping out to an 8-2 lead powered by a pair of kills from Krenz.  A block by Farris pushed WSU's advantage to 16-8.  Fike capped a 3-0 rally with a kill to give the home team a 20-10 lead.  The Bulldogs came back to trail 20-17 but the Warriors would force a fifth set by winning five of the last eight points to win 25-20.

FSU led 10-3 to start the decisive set but WSU would battle back to trail 12-7.  Back-to-back points made it 14-9 in favor of Ferris State but the Bulldogs would win on a WSU service error.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Krenz finished with a team-high 17 kills, while Wagner tallied 14 kills and VanderWal had 13.  Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) dished out 50 assists.  Both Wagner and Julia Malewicz (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Academy for International Studies / Henry Ford II) posted 20 digs, while Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) had 15.

UP NEXT
The Warriors will welcome Northwood to the Matthaei on Saturday with first serve scheduled for 2:00 p.m.