Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Wayne State University Athletics

Madelyn Krenz
Senior Madelyn Krenz hit .462 on Friday night.
1
Davenport DU 11-15,6-9 GLIAC
3
Winner Wayne State WSU 15-11,8-7 GLIAC
Davenport DU
11-15,6-9 GLIAC
1
Final
3
Wayne State WSU
15-11,8-7 GLIAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Davenport DU 23 25 18 19 (1)
Wayne State WSU 25 22 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Volleyball Handles Davenport in Four Sets

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball program (15-11 overall, 8-7 GLIAC) won its fifth straight match on Friday night over Davenport (11-15 overall, 6-9 GLIAC) in four sets.  The Warriors won the opening set (25-23) before dropping the second set (22-25) but captured the the next two by set scores of 25-18 and 25-19.  The win strengthens WSU's place in the GLIAC standings with the playoffs beginning next week.  A win over Grand Valley State tomorrow afternoon would put WSU into the fifth seed.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors led 4-3 to begin the first set but the Panthers stayed close and led 8-7 later in the game.  A Julia Malewicz (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Academy for International Studies / Henry Ford II) service ace tied the set at 11-11 and a kill from Taylor Wagner (St. Joseph, Mich. / Lakeshore) kept it tied at 14-14.  Davenport led 17-15 after points from Hayley Kreiger and Riley Groves.  However, a 5-0 run by the Green & Gold out the home team up 21-18.  The burst was powered by two aces from Malewicz plus kills from Lauren VanderWal (Caledonia, Mich.), Summer Farris (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington) and Wagner.  The visitors would trim the deficit to one on two occasions down the stretch but WSU would close out the 25-23 win with a kill from Olivia Fike (North Branch, Mich.).

Davenport started the second set by leading 8-3 and 13-10 on a WSU service error.  The deficit grew to 17-1 and eventually 21-15.  A point from Madelyn Krenz (Chenoa, Ill. / Prairie Central) brought Wayne State within two, 24-22, but DU would close out the set with a spike by Kreiger.

Wayne State set the tone early in the third set and led 10-2 to start.  Krenz tallied three kills to power the fast start.  A Panthers error plus back-to-back kills from Wagner pushed the home advantage to 14-3.  The Green & Gold led 20-15 and 23-17 after two straight kills from Fike.  An error by Davenport plus an ace from Halle Shell (Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) secured the 25-18 victory and gave WSU a 2-1 match lead.

It was promising start for the Panthers in the fourth set, leading 6-5 and 7-6, but the Warriors would take control midway through the game.  A combo block by Farris and Krenz plus kills from Krenz and Farris gave Wayne State a 13-9 lead.  Krenz stuffed a DU attack for a solo block to make 16-11 in favor of the home side.  Consecutive Davenport attacking errors pushed the WSU advantage to 20-14.  The Panthers would claw their way back and trailed 20-18 after a 4-0 run.  WSU answered with a 4-0 rally of its own to take a 24-18 lead and a Krenz kill ended the match and gave WSU a 25-19 win.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Krenz hit .462 on 26 attempts to post 16 kills to go with her five blocks.  Wagner finished with 13 kills, while Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) totaled 41 assists.  Wagner notched a double-double with a team-high 13 digs.  Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) finished with 12 digs and Duffield tallied 10.  Farris had five total blocks.

ONE BIG THING
The service game seemed to let the Panthers down as they collected 13 service errors compared to WSU's nine.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH KOTH
"This was a gutty win for us tonight.  Davenport was working so hard and just kept us uncomfortable for most of the match.  To our credit, we stayed with our process and we're able to execute down the stretch."

UP NEXT
Wayne State will close out the regular season vs. Grand Valley State on Saturday with first serve set for 2:00 p.m.  The team's two seniors Krenz and Claire McWilliams (Muskegon, Mich. / Fruitport) will be honored prior the the match.


 
Print Friendly Version