DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (8-10 overall, 4-6 GLIAC) will take a break from league play for the 18th annual Midwest Region Crossover on Friday-Saturday at Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Ind.  The Warriors will face the likes of Southwest Baptist (3 p.m. - Friday), Truman State (8 p.m. - Friday) and Lake Erie (Saturday - 12:30 p.m.).

Coach's Corner
The Midwest Region Crossover is one of the most exciting events in NCAA collegiate volleyball," said head coach Tim Koth.  "At no other time can you see every regional team competing in the same event.  It will be fun to compete in, and very entertaining for fans."

About the Event
Thirty-seven schools from the region's three conferences will be in action -- 11 from the GLIAC, 14 from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and 12 from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).   Each team will be guaranteed three matches and every session will utilize as many as eight courts at once for the largest collegiate volleyball event in the country.

Warrior Strong
Starting on offense, four players have powered Wayne State's hitting attack.  That quartet includes senior outside hitter Katie Smith (187 kills, .235 hitting percentage), junior outside hitter Saige Martin (155 kills, .158 hitting percentage), sophomore middle hitter Katerina Stout (134, .308), and junior opposite Kyleigh Weck (120, .336).  That .336 efficiency leads the team and ranks seventh in the league.  Senior setter Kayla Dulgar continues to lead the Green and Gold in assists with 634 while Smith has paced the service ace department with 21, already seven more than her previous career high set as a freshman in 2023.  The senior is one of five with double-digit aces, the other four being rookie middle hitter Doga Muhtaroglu with 17, Dulgar with 17, freshman libero Giselle Burlingame with 14, and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Essenpreis with 11.  Defensively for the Warriors, Burlingame (236 digs) and Stout (51 total blocks) are the squad's frontrunners.

Scouting Southwest Baptist (12-7 overall, 3-4 GLVC)
Led by seventh-year head coach James Hanger, the Bearcats have gone 76-103 during his tenure for a .425 winning percentage.  Southwest Baptist enters this week having won two of its last three matches, but since opening the season at 7-1, SBU has gone just 5-6 in its last 11 outings.  Individually, starting on offense, the Bearcats have been paced by a pair of performers in sophomore outside hitter Gabriela Dupree (253 kills, .237 hitting percentage) and sophomore setter Allie Hawk (402 assists, 20 service aces).  Defensively, Dupree (204 digs), freshman defensive specialist Melissa Patel (199 digs) and sophomore middle blocker Kailey Sexton (69 total blocks) have been the team's frontrunners.

Scouting Truman State (8-10 overall, 4-4 GLVC)
Truman State has also been on the right side of the scoreboard for two of the last three matches and is coached by sixth-year leader David Gannon.  In those five-plus seasons, Gannon and the Bulldogs have gone 47-109 overall, which equates to a .301 hitting percentage.  Statistically, TSU's offensive numbers have been spearheaded by junior outside hitter Laci Neece (225 kills, .222 hitting percentage), senior setter Tori Creason (688 assists) and junior middle blocker Autumn Erickson (29 service aces).  On the other side of the ball, junior libero Addy Janssen (329 digs) and Erickson (56 total blocks) have provided the most fuel for the team's successes.

Scouting Lake Erie (8-9 overall, 5-5 G-MAC)
Unlike Wayne State, Southwest Baptist or Truman State, Lake Erie has a first-year head coach in charge in Hannah Zuchowski.  Zuchowski arrived after spending three seasons on the coaching staff at Ashland, including the spring of 2026 as the program's interim head coach.  So far this fall, the first-year leader has turned to junior outside hitter Allison Kirch (236 kills, .166 hitting percentage, 30 service aces) and sophomore setter Kylie Anderson (568 assists).  Defensively, senior libero Bella Kessler (286 digs) and senior middle blocker Ni'yah Fuggs (56 total blocks) have made the most headlines.  Also above the net stopping the attack has been junior middle Kennedy Stewart with 53 total stuffs of her own. 

Up Next
Following this event, Wayne State will play its final two home matches of the regular season.  The Warriors will host Davenport on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. and Parkside for Senior Night on Friday, Oct. 23.