Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University volleyball team has been projected to finish third in the 2025 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, according to an announcement from the league office. This is the highest preseason ranking for Wayne State since 2022; prior to that, the last time the program was ranked this high was in 2018.

Grand Valley State leads the poll with 98 points and eight first-place votes, followed by Ferris State with 92 points and three first-place votes. Wayne State received 76 points, placing them ahead of Northern Michigan (68 points) and Michigan Tech (67 points). The remainder of the poll includes Parkside, Davenport, Purdue Northwest, Saginaw Valley State, Lake Superior State, and Roosevelt.

Head coach Tim Koth enters his 12th season guiding Wayne State. He holds a record of 155-143 at the school, including a conference record of 95-85. Last season, Koth led the Warriors to a 14-13 overall record and an 11-5 mark in GLIAC play. The team hosted a quarterfinal match in the GLIAC Tournament as the fourth seed.

Wayne State's roster consists of 18 student-athletes: ten returners and eight newcomers. Among those new faces are one Division I transfer, one Division II transfer, and six freshmen. Three of last year's All-GLIAC honorees return: senior middle Kayla Giroux, junior setter Kayla Dulgar, and senior libero Kendyl Andrews. Giroux also earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors and became the program's first CSC Second Team Academic All-American.

The roster features players across several positions: three setters (Dulgar; Abby Macalaguim; Abby Baushke), three defensive specialists/liberos (Andrews; Maya Wegand; Marley Onken), nine outside hitters/opposites (including Katie Smith and Leigha Baldwin), and three middle blockers/hitters (Giroux; Nicole Dupre; Katerina Stout).

Wayne State's schedule includes 26 regular-season matches—22 against Midwest Region opponents—with 16 GLIAC contests and twelve home games at Matthaei Center. "I believe our 2025 schedule, as in past years, is set up to give us the opportunity to meet NCAA criterion for postseason play," said Koth. "We open with an outstanding field for the Warrior Invitational and then head to New York for three matches against NCAA Tournament teams from last season. The GLIAC is one of the strongest conferences in NCAA Division II. This year, I believe the league will be as competitively deep as it has ever been, which is exciting! It should make for some exciting matches in the Matthaei Arena this fall!"

The Warriors begin their season on September 5-6 by hosting four matches during the Warrior Invitational. They will then travel to Amherst, New York for Daemen's Wildcat Classic on September 12-13 before starting their conference slate later in September.

Wayne State will play each of Saginaw Valley State, Lake Superior State, Davenport, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, and Purdue Northwest twice—once at home and once away—and face Parkside (home), Roosevelt (home), Michigan Tech (away), and Northern Michigan (away) once each during GLIAC play. The regular season concludes November 14 at home against Purdue Northwest.

At season's end on November 19, GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals will be hosted by the top four seeds. Semifinals and finals are scheduled for November 22-23 at the site of the highest remaining seed.