DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball program (11-6, 5-4 GLIAC) will head to the Upper Peninsula for a pair of important league matches at Northern Michigan (14-3, 7-2 GLIAC) and at Michigan Tech (10-6, 4-5 GLIAC) on Friday and Saturday.
COACH KOTH
The 2021 GLIAC Coach of the Year, Tim Koth collected his 400th win as a women's volleyball coach earlier this season. The 2022 season is his 28th in collegiate coaching and ninth at Wayne State.
"We are looking forward to our fall color tour to the Upper Peninsula. Northern and Michigan Tech are both very good teams and will present very different challenges, both in play and environment - but we enjoy those and are looking forward to it. Should be a fun weekend."
LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State was swept by Davenport on Friday night inside the Matthaei. Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) finished with a team-high 10 kills, while Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) tallied 27 assists. Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) collected 18 digs. The Warriors bounced back to win in four sets on Saturday over Parkside. Lauren VanderWal led the team with 14 kills, while Giroux hit .450 and had 11 kills to go with Shell's 10 kills. Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) dished out 38 assists, while Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) finished with 22 digs.
ANOTHER MILESTONE
Kamryn Duffield became the fourth Warrior ever to record 4,000 career assists. Recently, she moved into second place all-time in assists passing Cydney Biessel (4,089) and Amy Horgan (4,097) on Sunday. Duffield currently has 4,311 career assists, which is a modern program record. The program record belongs to Tracy Granger (1992-95) who recorded 5,136 helpers prior to the rally scoring era.
AWARD WINNERS
After the season-opening week of action, graduate outside hitter Lauren VanderWal (Caledonia, Mich.) earned Offensive Player of the Week accolades, while senior libero Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week. VanderWal totaled 60 kills (4.93/set), hit .280 and collected a pair of double-doubles in the four matches in Indianapolis. In a 3-0 sweep, she posted 18 kills and hit .500 for the match and notched 18 kills plus 16 digs in the five-set win over McKendree. VanderWal also tallied nine total blocks en route to collecting her third career weekly GLIAC honor. Benoit surpassed 1,000 career digs in the three-set win over Montevallo in the season opener. She totaled 86 digs (6.14/set) and 10 services aces. Benoit notched 26 digs vs. Anderson before finishing the tournament with 28 digs in the win over McKendree.
Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) and Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) earned GLIAC Player of the Week honors after leading Wayne State to three wins, all sweeps, this past week. Duffield was named Setter of the Week, while Giroux was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week.
Duffield totaled 105 assists (11.67/set) and also had 24 digs (2/67/set). Duffield had 33 assists on Tuesday vs. Saginaw Valley State and followed that with 36 helpers on Friday against Lake Superior State. On Saturday, WSU swept Grand Valley State behind Duffield's 36 assists and 10 digs.
Giroux was effective both on offense and defense this past week. She notched nine kills, hit .389 and had three blocks on Tuesday vs. Saginaw Valley State. Against Lake Superior State, she hit .647 and tallied 11 kills and collected five blocks. Giroux finished her impressive week with five kills, four blocks and hit .385 in a sweep over Grand Valley State.
BENOIT'S MILESTONE
In the season-opening win over Montevallo, Maddy Benoit collected 24 digs to give her over 1,000 digs for her career, which ranks 10th all-time in program history.
A HISTORIC 2021 SEASON
This past season, WSU played in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, but for the first time since 1994. The Warriors totaled 20 victories, which is the most wins since 1998. The Green & Gold swept Saginaw Valley State in a GLIAC Quarterfinal contest on Nov. 17th, the first home playoff game since 2010 for WSU.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The Wildcats of Northern Michigan are 14-3 overall and 7-2 in the GLIAC after falling at Ferris State and besting Lake Superior State. Head coach Mike Lozier is in his fifth season leading NMU. Jacqueline Smith has 303 kills (4.66/set) to lead the team and the GLIAC. Lauren Van Remortel has dished out 565 assists (8.69/set) so far this season. Ali Yacko leads the defense with 262 digs(4.03/set), while Meghan Meyer has a team-best 19 blocks (0.29/set).
Michigan Tech has has ups and downs so far this season with an overall record of 10-6, including a 4-5 GLIAC mark. Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 11th season leading the Huskies. MTU had won three in a row before falling at Ferris State last week. The Huskies will host Saginaw Valley State on Friday night. A pair of student-athletes have over 100 kills for Michigan Tech, led by Jillian Kuizenga with 161 (2.98.set). Lindy Oujiri has tallied 110 kills (2.16/set). Lina Espejo-Ramirez leads the team with 419 assists (9.31/set). Carissa Beyer has a team-high 219 digs (4.06/set), while Morgan Radtke leads the team with 45 total blocks.
UP NEXT
WSU will compete at the Midwest Regional Crossover on Oct. 14-15 in Hammond, Ind. at the Eastside Fitness Club. Those matchups and start times will be announced soon.
