Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University volleyball team began the annual Midwest Region Crossover tournament with two wins on Friday in Hammond, Indiana. The Warriors improved their record to 14-3 overall after defeating Rockhurst University in straight sets and overcoming Hillsdale College in four sets.

"Great first day for the Warriors," said head coach Tim Koth. "This morning, we played a very clean (low error) match against an outstanding Rockhurst club, and this afternoon we competed really well to win against perennial G-MAC power Hillsdale. Looking forward to our match up tomorrow."

In the opening match against Rockhurst, Wayne State achieved a season-high .354 hitting percentage, totaling 45 kills and only 10 errors on 99 attacks. Rockhurst finished with a .126 hitting percentage from 111 attempts, recording 39 kills and 25 errors. The Warriors posted an efficient first set with an .500 hitting clip and registered a season-high of 14 team blocks, marking the program's best blocking performance in over three years.

Paige Giehtbrock led Wayne State with a season-best .395 hitting percentage and contributed 17 kills with just two errors on 38 swings. Additional strong performances came from Lauren Essenpreis (eight kills), Kayla Giroux (eight kills), Leigha Baldwin (five kills), and Katerina Stout (five kills). Setter Kayla Dulgar provided 38 assists and two service aces, while Kendyl Andrews added nine digs to lead the defense.

The second match saw Wayne State defeat Hillsdale in four sets. The Warriors hit .281 as a team, tallying 62 kills on 135 swings. Hillsdale ended the contest at .184 with 41 kills from 136 attempts. Leigha Baldwin recorded a career-high 18 kills on a .640 hitting percentage, while Giehtbrock added 14 kills and Giroux contributed ten more. Dulgar matched her career high in kills with four and collected 50 assists for her fourth outing this season reaching that mark.

On defense against Hillsdale, Andrews posted a team-leading 21 digs while Abby Macalaguim had ten digs and tied her season best with four service aces.

Wayne State is scheduled to face Missouri-St. Louis next on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern time.