Wayne State University Athletics

The Warriors finished the regular season at 19-10 overall.

Volleyball 11/7/2022 2:29:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Volleyball Begins GLIAC Tournament At Home On Wednesday

The fourth-seeded Warriors entertain No. 5 seed-Michigan Tech.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (19-10 overall, 12-6 GLIAC) secured a home playoff berth for this week's GLIAC Tournament with a pair of road victories this past weekend at Grand Valley State and Lake Superior State. WSU earned the No. 4 seed and will host fifth-seeded Michigan Tech (19-9 overall, 11-7 GLIAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Matthaei. The winner will advance to the GLIAC Semifinals on Friday at the site of the top remaining seed following Wednesday's four quarterfinal matches.

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.

"I expect this to be an outstanding volleyball match. Michigan Tech is a very good team, that competes very hard, and is our defending GLIAC Champions. We will have to be exceptional in all phases of the game. We are ready."

LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors concluded the regular season with a 3-1 win at Lake Superior State. Lauren VanderWal led WSU in kills with 18, while recording a .333 hitting percentage. Halle Shell, Kayla Giroux and Maddie Morrison each tallied eight kills, while Kamryn Duffield dished out 35 assists.

WSU IN THE GLIAC TOURNAMENT
Wayne State is 4-6 in the GLIAC Tournament over the last 10 years (2012-21), with three of the four victories coming on the road in the opening round of the conference tournament. Last year, WSU won a home quarterfinal match vs. Saginaw Valley State. Wednesday's match-up with Michigan Tech will be the first time the two schools have met in the GLIAC post-season since MTU posted a 3-2 triumph on Nov. 15, 1997, in the third-place match.

Ironically, the two programs met last year in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with the Huskies prevailing 3-2.

A HISTORIC 2021 SEASON
A season ago, 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 was 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 OPPONENT
After notching a 4-5 GLIAC record through the first half of league play, Michigan Tech compiled a 7-2 mark during the second half to finish in fifth place, one game behind the Warriors. Head coach Matt Jennings is in his 11th season leading the Huskies. MTU has won four of its last five matches with the lone setback (3-0) coming in Detroit on October 28.

A pair of student-athletes have over 200 kills each for Michigan Tech, led by Jillian Kuizenga with 285 (2.94/set). Meg Raabe has tallied 241 kills (2.48/set). Lina Espejo-Ramirez leads the team with 872 assists (9.91/set). Carissa Beyer has a team-high 490 digs (5.05/set), while Janie Grindland leads the team with 75 total blocks (14 solo, 61 assisted).

GLIAC HONORS
VanderWal was selected GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week earlier today. VanderWal totaled 43 kills in eight sets this past weekend as WSU won road matches at GVSU and LSSU to secure the final top four seed. She hit .381 (43-6-97) for the week, while also contributing 21 digs, six blocks (1 solo, 5 assisted) and two service aces. VanderWal ranked fifth in GLIAC play with 245 kills and 3.29 kills per set, and sixth with 239.0 points. She recorded her 1,000th career kill in the victory at GVSU.

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