KENOSHA, Wis. -- Making its first road trip of the season, the Wayne State University volleyball team (2-3 overall) was at Parkside's Hampton Inn Invitational on Friday for the first two of four matches. The Warriors dropped a nail biter to Upper Iowa (4-3 overall) in five sets before bouncing back to defeat Lake Erie (2-4 overall) in four periods.
Match One - Upper Iowa 3, Wayne State 2
HOW IT HAPPENED (-23, 15-25, 22-25, -15, 12-15)
- Upper Iowa out-hit Wayne State .285 to .274.
- That .274 is the Warriors' highest clip in a loss since Sept. 28, 2019 at Davenport when they hit .325 in a four-set defeat.
- Against the Peacocks, WSU's best individual set offensive efficiency wise was the fourth at .367.
- That .367 equaled 15 kills and four errors on 30 total attacks.
- For UIU, it came in the second period with a percentage of .481.
- The individual numbers for the .481 were 16 kills and three mishaps on 27 swings.
- Thanks to a match-high 25 kills and 11 digs,
Molly Miller finished with her third double-double of the season and ninth as a Warrior.
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Kayla Dulgar churned out 48 assists to go with nine digs and finish one shy of a double-double.
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Kayla Giroux (16 kills) has tallied double-digit kills for the fourth match in a row for the fourth time in her career.
- Giroux accomplished that feat once as a freshman and twice as a sophomore.
- In the team head-to-head, each of the six major categories (points, kills, aces, blocks, assists and digs) were decided by two or less.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Match Two - Wayne State 3, Lake Erie 1
HOW IT HAPPENED (-24, -19, 19-25, -22)
- Staying consistent, Wayne State hit .270 in this match with 56 kills, 22 errors and 126 total attacks.
- On the other side, Lake Erie responded with a .231 clip on 49 kills, 21 mishaps and 121 swings.
- The Warriors couldn't have asked for a better start on the attack with percentages of .444 and .565 in the first two sets.
- The Storm came out of the gates hot as well with a .484 clip in the opening stanza.
- WSU notched 10 service aces to LEC's six.
- Wayne State was also better above the net with 21 total blocks to Lake Erie's 15.
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Kayla Giroux continued her red-hot start to the season with 15 kills and only three errors on 28 total attacks (.429).
- In her first five matches of the season, the junior is hitting a blistering .496 (73 kills, 11 errors and 125 swings).
- Defensively, Giroux tied her personal best in blocks with eight that she set twice as a freshman in 2022.
- Miller paced all players in kills with 18.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Up Next
Saturday, Wayne State will go up against Ohio Dominican (2-3 overall) for a second time this season at 10 a.m. and Northern State (5-0 overall) at 4 p.m.
