DETROIT -- The final week of the regular season is here for the Wayne State University volleyball team (19-5 overall, 11-3 GLIAC).  The Warriors will host Grand Valley State (17-7 overall, 11-3 GLIAC) on Thursday and Purdue Northwest (13-10 overall, 7-7 GLIAC) on Friday, both of which will begin at 7 p.m. inside the Matthaei Center.

Coach's Corner
"We're looking forward to the final two regular season matches at the Matthaei," said head coach Tim Koth.  "It should be great competition as we celebrate Pride and Family this weekend."

GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week (again)
Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season, as announced by the league on Monday afternoon.  Giroux has now received GLIAC weekly honors eight times in her career, which includes seven on the offensive side and one as a defender.   Last week, in a pair of road wins for Wayne State, Giroux hit .538 with 39 kills and only four errors on 65 total attacks.  Starting with the sweep at Lake Superior State on Friday, the senior finished with 14 kills and just one error on 23 attempts (.565).  Then on Saturday, the middle blocker led the Warriors to a reverse sweep of Saginaw Valley State with 25 kills (career high), three miscues and 42 swings (.524).

History in the Making
In the 50 seasons of Wayne State University volleyball prior to 2025, 14 of those 50 teams reached 20 or more wins in a single season.  At 19-5 overall with at least three matches remaining this year (including GLIAC Tournament), the Warriors have a chance to rack up at least 22 victories, the program's most since 1997 (29-8).  WSU has recorded 20+ wins just once in the previous 26 seasons, which was a 20-9 finish in 2021.  Wayne State is also in search of the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since that 2021 campaign.  The other two came in 1987 and 1994.  The 1981 squad holds the WSU record for wins with 34 (34-9).

Scouting Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State has won four matches in a row, including 3-2 over 15th-ranked Ferris State on Nov. 1, since losing five out of nine from Oct. 2-25.  Prior to that victory over the Bulldogs, FSU had won 12 straight.  With that being said, the Lakers have gone 5-3 in true road matches this season under fifth-year head coach Jason Johnson (108-39 overall record).

Individually, starting on offense, a trio of Lakers have sent home at least 200 kills including senior setter Meghan O'Sullivan (239 kills), redshirt junior middle blocker Brianna Stawski (212) and senior outside hitter Kendall Stover (207).  Running point for that attack have been sophomore setter Caroline Baker (429 assists) and O'Sullivan (390).  Behind the service line, Grand Valley State has leaned on a quartet in O'Sullivan (36 aces), Baker (27), Stover (24) and sophomore outside Grace Busold (21 aces).  Defensively, Stover (294 digs) and Stawski (109 total blocks) are the ringleaders.

Scouting Purdue Northwest
Purdue Northwest is led by fourth-year head coach Sean Douglas, who owns an overall record of 44-65 in that span.  Record wise, the Pride have one six of nine true road affairs and are 9-6 away from their home court overall.  The last time PNW came to WSU (Oct. 27, 2023), the Pride won in Detroit for the first time ever and did so in five sets.

Switching over to the statistical side of things, Purdue Northwest boasts a trio of attackers with 200+ kills in senior opposite Arra Cottrell (238 kills), junior outside Anika Huelskamp (236) and senior outside Allyson Cathey (208).  The Pride primarily use one setter in senior Marina Gronkiewicz (744 assists) while Gronkiewicz (46 aces), sophomore libero Kennedi Brass (30 aces), Cottrell (28 aces) and Huelskamp (23 aces) have been the biggest threats from back deep.