HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University volleyball program (14-2, 7-1 GLIAC) has shown resilience all season long and Friday night's match at Hillsdale (12-3, 5-2 GLIAC) was another example of that while adding to what has already been a special season for the upstart Warriors.  WSU topped Hillsdale 3-2 for its fifth straight win.

Wayne State dropped the opening set 25-11 and fell behind 2-0 after the Chargers topped WSU 25-22 in the second set.  However, with its sights set on a top 25 ranking in next week's poll, the Green & Gold rallied to win the next three sets (25-21, 25-23 and 15-7) to complete a thrilling comeback.  WSU is 4-1 in five-set matches this season.

It is the first victory over Hillsdale since Nov. 12, 2008 and the first win on the road against the Chargers since Nov. 8, 2008.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Chargers stormed out to a 12-1 advantage in the first set and eventually won by a 14-point margin.  WSU pulled within eight points at 15-7 following a kill from Avery Punches (Rockford, Mich.) but that would be as close as it would come.

• A combo block from Brittany Guldan (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) and Mikayla Shell (Croswell, Mich. / Croswell-Lexington) tied the second set at 8-8 after Hillsdale led for much of the set.  Hannah Moore (Louisville, Ky. / Assumption) gave WSU a 14-13 lead but the Chargers would control the rest of the game and win 25-22.

• A 4-0 run by the Warriors finished with an ace from Guldan and began to swing the momentum back to the visiting bench.  Another service ace from Haley Tenelshof (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Jenison) extended WSU's lead to 13-5.  Tenelshof continued her expert serving and gave Wayne State a 21-14 lead with another ace.  HC cut the deficit to three at 23-20 but two Chargers' errors sealed the victory for WSU.

• The fourth set was extremely close throughout.  Hailey Richardson (New Boston, Mich. / Huron) tied the game at 10-10 with a kill.  A kill from Shell put the WSU lead at 18-14 and Richardson tallied another point to put the Warriors at 20 and the Chargers at 17.  Hillsdale won four consecutive points to tie the set at 22-22 but the determined Warriors took three of the final four points to to win 25-23 and force a fifth set.

• Following a blocking error by Punches WSU led the final set 4-3 but the Warriors captured the next five points to lead 9-3.  The rest of the game was controlled by Wayne State as kills from Shell, Guldan and Moore propelled the Warriors to a 15-7 triumph.

FROM COACH KOTH
"Great comeback win for the Warriors tonight against a very good Hillsdale squad.  This was all about guts and determination and we just had a bit more than our opponent.  My team continues to amaze me at times!"

UP NEXT
• Wayne State will look to add to its impressive resume on Saturday at Northwood with first serve scheduled for just after 5 p.m.