DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team opened the 2025 season with purpose on Friday winning both of its matches, 3-0 over Upper Iowa (0-2 overall) and 3-1 against Northwood (0-2 overall) in the nightcap. The Warriors will face Cedarville (2-0 overall) and Winona State (1-1 overall) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
"It was a nice first day of the season for the Warriors," said head coach
Tim Koth. "Congratulations to
Kayla Giroux for achieving her 1,000th career kill. There were lots of things for us to learn from today and we're looking forward to tomorrow."
Match One - Wayne State 3, Upper Iowa 0
HOW IT HAPPENED (-15, -14, -8)
- Wayne State didn't raise any eyebrows offensively with an attacking clip of .213 (40 kills, 17 errors, 108 total attacks).
- With that being said Upper Iowa countered with an output of -.111 (14, 25, 99).
- The Peacocks best individual set was the first at .000 (9, 9, 27) while the Warriors' came in the .214 (12, 6, 28).
- WSU was very consistent following up that percentage with .213 in the second and .212 in the third.
- Starting on offense,
Paige Giehtbrock secured a match-high 12 kills in her first match in the Green and Gold.
- The junior transfer did so while hitting .290 thanks to just three mishaps on 31 swings.
- Also in double-figures for kills was
Kayla Giroux with 11 and a .364 clip next to it (11,3, 22).
-
Kayla Dulgar dished out 28 assists and behind the service line, a trio of Warriors entered the ace column.
- Those three were
Abby Macalaguim,
Maya Wegand and
Lauren Essenpreis with three, two and one, respectively.
- Defensively,
Katerina Stout was impressive in her collegiate debut with a match-high seven kills (one solo, six assisted).
- Not to mention, Stout hit .286 on the other side of the ball with four kills and just two errors on seven attempts.
- Giehtbrock (3), Giroux (3),
Leigha Baldwin (3), and Dulgar (2) also had double-digit stuffs.
-
Kendyl Andrews dug out 14 attacks in the match's three periods.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Match Two - Wayne State 3, Northwood 1
HOW IT HAPPENED (-20, -19, 22-25, -22)
- As good as Giroux was in the first match, round two saw her reach 1,000 career kills with even more efficiency.
- The All-American hit a blistering .621 with 18 kills and not a single error on 29 total attacks.
- Also reaching 10 kills were
Saige Martin with a personal-best 11 and Giehtbrock with 10 more.
- Dulgar locked up the 21st double-double of her career with 51 assists (eighth instance with 50+ as a Warrior) and 18 digs (match high).
- Essenpreis was the lone Warrior to send home multiple aces thanks to a trio of them.
- Defensively, Stout racked up seven more blocks (two solo, five assisted) while Giehtbrock and Giroux each notched a pair.
- Andrews was the other Warrior to reach the 10-dig plateau with 12 next to her name.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
