Box Score

FINDLAY, Ohio -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (7-6, 4-1) played its first midweek contest of the season at Findlay (10-4, 3-2) on Tuesday night and would go home with 3-2 win. The Warriors took set one 25-19, dropped an exciting set two 28-26 and fell in set three 25-16. WSU forced a fifth set with a 25-21 win and completed the comeback with a 15-9 win in the fifth set.

Wayne State and Ashland are now tied atop the GLIAC South Division standings at 4-1 while Ferris State leads the GLIAC North at 5-0.

The Green & Gold hit .522 in the opening set to jump out to a 1-0 lead over the Oilers. Wayne State led 7-3 to begin the first set but Findlay would storm back to tie the set at 9-9. The Oilers would take a 14-12 lead following a mini 4-0 run. Later in the set, WSU would go on a 9-1 run to take a 21-16 lead and closed the set on a 5-2 run. Kristen Bulkiewicz (LaSalle, Ont. / Sandwich) would end the set with a kill on an assist from Madison Reeves (Indianapolis, Ind. / Avon) to give the Warriors a 25-19 win.

Set two would be a classic between the two teams that always seem to play each other extremely close according to head coach Phil Nickel. A Bulkiewicz kill cut Findlay's lead to 15-10. The Oilers would lead by as many as eight points before a 7-1 run tied the match at 23-23. The two teams traded punches and were tied at 26-26, with the Warriors facing set points on three occasions. Back-to-back Warrior errors closed the set and gave Findlay a 28-26 win to tie the match at 1-1.

The Oilers led 8-3 to open the third set. and eventually stretched its lead to 15-7. The home team's lead remained at eight points at 18-10. The Oilers would dominate the rest of the set to win 25-16 and take a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set was another close battle between the South Division rivals. Heather Weiss (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron) connected for a kill to give the Warriors a 9-8 lead. A 4-0 run would create some breathing room for WSU at 21-17 and the deficit would stay at four as the Warriors won 25-21 on a Findlay service error to force a fifth-set tiebreaker.

The race to 15 began with the teams tied at 3-3 before WSU seized the momentum and went on a 7-0 run, forcing Findlay to burn both of its timeouts during the run. Following the offensive display, the visiting Warriors led 10-3. The Oilers slowed the rally and trimmed the deficit to 12-7. Candice Ottey (Ajax, Ont.) delivered the match-clinching kill on an assist from Reeves to give the Warriors the set, 15-9.

Three Warriors tallied double-digit kills led by Bulkiewicz's 17. Ottey finished with 16, hitting .429, while Essence Jackson-Jones (Muskegon, Mich.) contributed 10 kills, matching her career-high while hitting .529. Reeves dished out a career-high 51 assists while Carlee Hunt (Waterford, Mich. / Walled Lake Northern) and Macy Steenhuysen (Grand Rapids, Mich. / East Kentwood) both collected 10 digs apiece. WSU hit .325 compared to Findlay's .290. The Warriors collected 10 total team blocks.

WSU will begin its home schedule this weekend beginning with Northern Michigan on Friday at 7 PM inside the Matthaei Center.