DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (8-3 overall, 2-2 GLIAC) will wrap up a four-match road swing this week.  The Warriors will be at No. 18 Grand Valley State (9-2 overall, 4-0 GLIAC) on Thursday for a 6 p.m. first serve before going to Purdue Northwest (6-4 overall, 3-1 GLIAC) on Friday for a 7 p.m. eastern start.

Coach's Corner
"This will be another challenging road trip for us," said head coach Tim Koth.  "We are working to be better and look forward to putting it into play on Thursday and Friday."

Stout in the Middle
Freshman Katerina Stout (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota) put together a red-hot two-match stretch at Davenport and No. 12 Ferris State last week.  The rookie hit .543 with 21 kills and only two errors on 35 total attacks for a blistering .543 hitting percentage to go with five total blocks, three solo and two assisted.  So far in Wayne State's 11 2025 matches, Stout is hitting .331, which is fourth in the league, with 62 kills and just 21 errors on 124 swings.  The first-year Warrior has also racked up 41 total blocks (tied-for-second in the conference), 1.14 blocks per set (third, 46th in DII), 34 block assists (third) and seven solo blocks (fifth).

The Pride of Flat Rock
Senior Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) is at it again with a .392 hitting percentage (141, 29, 286) on the season, which is good for second in the GLIAC and 18th in the country.  Giroux's hitting percentage for an individual match has been held below .200 just twice while her other nine outings have seen the veteran hit at least .357.

Five Goes, We Go
Junior Kayla Dulgar (Warsaw, Ohio / River View), who just surpassed 2,500 career assists (2,523), is 22nd in the nation for assists per set (10.26) and 49th in total assists (400).  Those two numbers rank second and fourth, respectively, in the league as well.  Dulgar's 2,523 career helpers rank seventh in the program's record book, just 184 away from the top five.

Scouting Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State has won six straight matches under fifth-year head coach Jason Johnson (100-34 overall record).  So far this fall, the Lakers have been effective on both offense and defense.  They rank 13th in all of Division II for blocks per set (2.58, first in GLIAC), 16th for hitting percentage (.263, first in GLIAC), 22nd for opponent hitting percentage (.132), 39th for kills per set (13.48) and 43rd for assists per set (12.3).

Individually, GVSU's redshirt junior middle Brianna Stawski has been one of the best players in the country.  Stawski ranks 14th in the nation for blocks per set (1.38), 17th for hitting percentage (.398) and 34th for total blocks (55).  Each of those three totals are good for tops in the conference.

Scouting Purdue Northwest
Purdue Northwest's fourth-year head coach Sean Douglas (37-59 overall record) has his team off to a 6-4 overall start, 3-1 in GLIAC action.  As a team, the Pride are among the nation's top 25 at both the beginning of a rally and the end of it.  The Pride are 24th in blocks per set (2.41) and 25th in service aces per set (2.26), second and first in the league, respectively.

Individually, Purdue Northwest has been paced by a pair of high-level performers in senior setter Marina Gronkiewicz and sophomore middle Kennedy Rowzee.  Gronkiewicz is eighth among Division II's leaders for aces per set with 0.76 (first in the conference) and 25th for total aces with 26 (first in the conference).  In her own right, Rowzee is 24th in the country for blocks per set with 1.25, which is second in the GLIAC.