Northwest Wayne News

Wayne State University's women's volleyball team secured a close 3-2 win over Parkside on Friday night at The Matthaei Center, maintaining their undefeated home record this season. The Warriors now stand at 11-3 overall and 5-2 in the GLIAC, while Parkside drops to 10-4 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

After taking the first two sets, Wayne State lost momentum and dropped the next two. In the decisive fifth set, they fell behind 6-0 before rallying for the victory. Head coach Tim Koth commented on the team's performance: "Parkside, to their credit played, a great match and pushed us to the limit," said Koth. "To our credit, we made plays when we needed them most. Tonight's win was an important one for the Warriors."

All five sets were decided by just two points each. Wayne State finished with a .254 hitting percentage, recording 74 kills and 24 errors from 197 attacks. The team improved to a perfect record this season when hitting above .240 in a match. Parkside hit .227 with 69 kills and 25 errors on 194 attempts.

Individually, Kayla Giroux led Wayne State with a career-high of 24 kills on 52 attacks and just five errors, resulting in a .365 hitting percentage. Paige Giehtbrock contributed her highest kill total since August last year with 20 kills from a season-high of 55 attempts and added her third double-double as a Warrior thanks to her personal-best of 22 digs.

Lauren Essenpreis tied her career high with 11 kills and also posted double-digit digs (11), while Katerina Stout had ten kills along with nine blocks—a program best for this year. Setter Kayla Dulgar registered an impressive stat line as well, delivering 62 assists—the most by any Warrior since October of 2019—and earning a double-double with ten digs.

Abby Macalaguim led from behind the service line with three aces and also tallied fifteen digs—a season high for her—while Kendyl Andrews added nineteen digs defensively.

Wayne State will host Roosevelt University on Saturday at The Matthaei Center at 4 p.m., marking their final home game until Halloween night.