DETROIT -- Senior middle blocker Kayla Giroux (Flat Rock, Mich.) of the Wayne State University volleyball team has been named as the female recipient for the 2025-26 GLIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, as announced by the league on Wednesday morning.  Giroux is the fourth honoree in school history, first since Hunter Brown (baseball) in 2019 and WSU's first female winner since Hall of Famer Erika Barczak (diving) in 2008.

The winners, awarded annually to one male and one female, were chosen from the male and female GLIAC Commissioner's Award honorees throughout the 2025-26 academic year, showcasing the top student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom.  

Giroux became the first Warrior volleyball standout to twice be selected as a GLIAC Commissioner's Award recipient back in January.  She was also voted 2025-26 WSU Women's Sports Student-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year, just the sixth two-time honoree.

WSU's GLIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Winners
2026 - Kayla Giroux - Volleyball
2019 - Hunter Brown - Baseball
2011 - Matthew Laschuk - Swimming
2008 - Erika Barczak - Diving

Giroux was honored as a College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-American, the first two-time Academic All-American in program history and WSU's 26th two-time honoree regardless of sport.  Overall, she was a five-time All-American (AVCA x2, CSC x2, D2CCA).  During the 2025 season, Giroux paced the GLIAC and ranked 10th nationally in hitting percentage (.391) while churning out 447 kills, good for second in the league and 20th in Division II.  

That .391 hitting percentage is the second best in program history, a chart in which she also owns first and third place.  Among the country's leaders, she was also 19th in points per set (4.68), 26th in kills per set (3.96), 33rd in total blocks (124), and 45th in blocks per set (1.10).  On the Warriors' career charts, the middle blocker is slotted first in hitting percentage (.372), second in kills (1,425), fourth in block assists (349), fifth in total stops (417), seventh in kills per set (3.26), and ninth in solo blocks (68).  

Academically, the Global Supply Chain Management major graduated in 3.5 years and earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) all eight semesters, including her sixth and seventh terms with a 4.00 this past fall and winter.  She maintained a 3.99 cumulative grade-point average along the way.  The four-time First Team All-GLIAC selection (first in program history) was the 2022 GLIAC Freshman of the Year as well as the AVCA Midwest Freshman of the Year.