Volleyball | 10/30/2014 2:00:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball team (8-13, 5-9 GLIAC) will continue its road swing in the U.P. this weekend. The Warriors will meet Northern Michigan (11-12, 11-3 GLIAC) on Friday at 5 PM and Michigan Tech (9-14, 6-8 GLIAC) on Saturday at 3 PM.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northern Michigan enters with an impressive 11-3 GLIAC record. However, the Wildcats have lost six of their last seven contests. NMU did beat Michigan Tech on Tuesday, 3-0. Dominic Yoder is in his eighth season with the program and carries a career record of 150-91. He guided NMU to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2008 to 2011. Two Wildcats have over 200 kills in Lisa Studnicka (242) and Madison Whitehead (223). Meghan Seymour leads the team with 603 assists (7.63/set). As a team, NMU is hitting .165 while its opponents are hitting .164.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES 
The Huskies are 6-8 in league play and battling for a GLIAC Tournament berth. MTU has lost three straight matches entering the weekend. Matt Jennings is in his third season with the program. Michigan Tech is led offensively by Lauren Emmert with 219 kills (2.58/set) and Sylvie Rokosh with 188 kills (2.29/set). MTU features two setters as Rachel Pohlod leads the team with 472 assists (7.87/set) and Rosie Aumann has 348 assists (5.80/set). The Huskies are hitting .173 compared to .205 of their opponents.

SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors trail the all-time series against both of this weekend's foes. NMU leads the series 30-13 dating back to 1985 but have won three of the last four meetings. The series with MTU is much close but the Huskies hold a 23-21 advantage. WSU has taken the last four meetings with MTU.

LAST TIME OUT
On the first leg of its five-match road trip, WSU was swept by Saginaw Valley State (14-8, 10-4 GLIAC) on Tuesday night. The Warriors struggled to close out sets and SVSU won by set scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-20. The Cardinals outhit the Warriors .304 to .152 for the match.? Grace Frazee and Heather Weiss led the WSU offense with eight kills each. Madison Reeves collected 17 assists while Brittany Guldan dished out 11. Carlee Hunt and Hannah Moore both finished with nine digs.?

NEW LEADER
A familiar name in the GLIAC, Tim Koth came to WSU after 10 highly productive seasons at Northwood, which included 175 victories, five NCAA Tournament appearances and a GLIAC Tournament title in 2012. Koth will look to return the Warriors to the GLIAC Tournament after being absent in 2013 for the first time since 2006, and the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994. He carries a career record of 285-267 in his 19 years of coaching. He is assisted by Michael Lozier and Dale Hartzell.

2014 CAPTAINS
Coach Koth announced his team captains for the 2014 season on July 28th. Senior Carlee Hunt (Waterford, Mich. / Walled Lake Northern), junior Madison Reeves (Indianapolis, Ind. / Avon), junior Kelsey Bonewits (Griffith, Ind.) and sophomore Mikayla Shell (Croswell, Mich. / Croswell-Lexington) will serve as the team's leaders this season.

"We believe these four ladies each bring their own different qualities as leaders for our team," said Koth. "In naming Carlee, Kelsey, Madison, and Mikayla – we have a lot of faith that we will have good leadership both on the floor, in the locker room and out in the community – and that they will represent Wayne State Volleyball in the manner in which we expect. We are looking forward to getting started in a few weeks."

Hunt was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team and served as a team captain in 2013. She played in 29 matches, started 21 times and appeared in 104 sets. Hunt was second on the team with 277 digs (2.66/set). Reeves, who was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team last season, also served as a team captain. She was a CoSIDA Academic All-District nominee, started all 26 matches played and led the team with 909 assists (9.09/set). Bonewits was also named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team and played in 26 matches in 2013, starting 24 times. She was fourth on the team with 119 kills (1.37/set) and led team with 80 total blocks (0.92/set), including 11 solo blocks. Shell played in 23 matches and made 10 starts. She appeared in 66 sets and totaled 74 kills (1.12/set).

IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC announced its Preseason Coaches' Poll on Aug. 14 with the Warriors and first-year head coach Tim Koth predicted to finish fifth in the North Division. Grand Valley State was selected to win the North with 55 points and seven first-place votes with Ferris State picking up the eighth and final first-place vote. The coaches tabbed Ashland as the preseason favorite to win the South Division with 46 points and six first-place votes. Hillsdale snagged the other two first-place votes.

UP NEXT
WSU will close out the regular season against the two top teams in the league. The Warriors will travel to Big Rapids, Mich. on Nov. 7th for a 7 PM match at Ferris State and meet Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich. on Nov. 8th at 2 PM.