Northwest Wayne News

Wayne State University's volleyball team experienced a setback on Friday night at the Matthaei Center, losing to Parkside in four sets. The Warriors, now holding a 10-18 overall record and 5-12 in the GLIAC, need either a win on Saturday or a loss by Lake Superior State to secure a spot in the GLIAC Tournament.

The match against Parkside ended with set scores of 19-25, -23, 22-25, and 21-25. Parkside took an early lead by scoring 14 out of the first 20 points. Wayne State managed to close the gap to three points at one stage but couldn't prevent Parkside from taking the first set.

In the second set, Wayne State showed their best offensive performance with a .200 hitting percentage due to 17 kills and eight errors on 45 attacks. The third set was closely contested with nine ties and six lead changes. Despite leading by two at one point, Wayne State lost five consecutive points, allowing Parkside to gain a two-set advantage.

Wayne State started strong in the fourth set with a quick 7-3 lead. However, after maintaining a narrow two-point advantage at 10-8, they allowed Parkside to score five straight points. Although Wayne State closed within one point several times thereafter, they could not overturn Parkside's momentum.

Key players for Wayne State included Kayla Giroux with 15 kills and Molly Miller contributing 14 kills. Katie Smith added nine kills along with three aces. Alexa Withun shared top honors in blocks alongside Giroux with three each.

Overall, Wayne State struggled due to self-inflicted errors which resulted in conceding a total of 44 points through attack (33) and service errors (11).

The Warriors will face Davenport on Saturday for Senior Day as part of their regular season finale at approximately 4 p.m.