DETROIT -- The first road trip of the 2024 season is here for the Wayne State University volleyball team.  The Warriors will compete in Parkside's Hampton Invitational on Friday and Saturday with four matches in two days.  WSU will face the likes of Upper Iowa (10 a.m.) and Lake Erie (2 p.m.) on day one before seeing Ohio Dominican (10 a.m.) and Northern State (4 p.m.) the second day.

Head Coach Tim Koth
"We learned some things about ourselves last week.  Now we're looking forward to seeing how we apply those lessons at our second event in Wisconsin."

First Time Out
Wayne State went 1-2 in its first three matches of the season last week, all as part of the Warrior Invitational.  The Warriors opened play with a 3-0 sweep of Frostburg State on Friday before falling to Northwood in five sets that night and Ohio Dominican in four the day after.  WSU has now gone 23-8 in nine Warrior Invitationals all time.

All-Tournament Team
Junior middle blocker Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) and senior outside hitter Molly Miller (Oxford, Mich. / Madonna) were two of six student-athletes named to the Warrior Invitational All-Tournament Team on Saturday.  Giroux hit .530 in the three matches with 42 kills and only seven errors on 66 attacks including a new career high for kills in both the second (18) and third (20) outings.  Miller hit .176 with 41 kills to 23 errors on 102 swings.

Leading the Way
Aside from Giroux and Miller on top of the kills category for Wayne State, three other Warriors have joined them at the peak so far.  WSU's other statistical leaders include junior libero Kendyl Andrews (Flushing, Mich., four aces and 35 digs), sophomore outside hitter Katie Smith (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower, four aces), Giroux (10 total blocks) and senior middle Ella Uganski (Jenison, Mich., 10 total blocks).

Upper Iowa - GLVC
Under first-year head coach Jim Dietz, Upper Iowa has gone 2-3 in its first five matches of the fall.  The Peacocks split their first four matches as part of Minnesota State Mankato's Maverick Invite on Sept. 5-7.  There, UIU defeated Parkside (3-2) and Minnesota State Moorhead (3-1), but came up short against Mankato in the opener (3-0) and Northern Michigan in the finale (3-0).  Then on Sept. 10, Upper Iowa was beaten in straight sets at Winona State.  In those five outings, the Peacocks have been paced by Zoe Semelroth (85 kills and 14 total blocks), Nicole Pozorski (186 assists), Lydia Imbrogno (seven service aces) and McKenna Diermeier (83 digs).

Lake Erie - G-MAC
Like Wayne State, Lake Erie opened its campaign with three matches in two days on Friday and Saturday.  Playing in Walsh's Hall of Fame City Challenge in North Canton, Ohio, the Storm defeated Point Park 3-2, fell to Seton Hill 3-1 and rounded out their trip with a victory over new GLIAC member Roosevelt, 3-0.  Another head coach in his first season, Calaeb Haire so far has turned to a rookie attacker in Allison Kirch.  The freshman leads LEC in both kills and total attacks thanks to 35 and 87, respectively, while hitting at a clip of .138.  Running the show offensively have been Simone Schurr (56 assists) and Sarah Leyden (51 assists) while Schurr is also on top of service aces with seven. Defensively, Brooklyn Broadway (40 digs) and Anna Lewis (eight total blocks) have been at the forefront.

Ohio Dominican - G-MAC
Fifth-year head coach Amy Bambenek and Ohio Dominican defeated Wayne State in four sets as part of the sixth and final match of the Warrior Invitational.  Then, the Panthers' outside hitter Jenna Peters and libero Liv Fenstermaker were named to the six-person All-Tournament Team.  In those two days, ODU also defeated Frostburg State 3-0, but fell to Northwood in five sets. Lauren Lucas (43 kills), Gabrielle Kirker (63 assists and six aces), Saige Avery (63 assists), Fenstermaker (51 digs), Grace Zinchuk (15 blocks) and Bailey Christiansen (15 blocks) led Ohio Dominican.

Northern State - NSIC
Among the five teams talked about in this article, Northern State's head coach has been with his current program the longest.  Having just started his 14th season at the helm of Northern State, the Wolves are coached by Brent Aldridge.  At 4-0 so far this fall (32 points in AVCA poll), the three-time NSIC Coach of the Year (AVCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2015) has racked up 247 victories to just 108 losses (.696 winning percentage).  In NSIC play, arguably the toughest conference in all of Division II, Aldridge has gone 143-79 (.644).  Abby Meister (First Team), Abby Brooks (Second Team), Keri Walker (Second Team) and Natalia Szybinska (Second Team), each of which was named All-NSIC in 2023, are back this season for NSU.