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Wayne State University Athletics

2019 VB Team Huddle
Wayne State finished 2-2 at the 2019 Warrior Invitational.
0
Southern Indiana USI 3-4
3
Winner Wayne State WSU 5-2
Southern Indiana USI
3-4
0
Final
3
Wayne State WSU
5-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Southern Indiana USI 22 20 18 (0)
Wayne State WSU 25 25 25 (3)
3
Winner Malone MU 3-6
2
Wayne State WSU 5-3
Winner
Malone MU
3-6
3
Final
2
Wayne State WSU
5-3
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Malone MU 25 17 25 31 15 (3)
Wayne State WSU 18 25 23 33 6 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Volleyball Collects Second Straight Split

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University volleyball program (5-3 overall) finished day two of the 2019 Warrior Invitational with another split on Saturday.  WSU swept Southern Indiana (3-4 overall) in three sets before falling to Malone (3-6 overall) in a five-set thriller that featured 64 total points in the fourth set.  Wayne State hosted the Warrior Invitational for the fourth consecutive season.

Following the event, Taylor Wagner (St. Joseph, Mich. / Lakeshore) and Olivia Fike (North Branch, Mich.) were named to the nine-person All-Tournament Team.

MATCH ONE vs. SOUTHERN INDIANA (W, 3-0 / 25-22, 25-20, 25-28)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors led the first set 6-1 following a 6-0 rally.  Lauren VanderWal (Caledonia, Mich.) made it 12-9 with a kill before a Wagner kill and a set error by the Screaming Eagles gave WSU a 16-11 advantage.  Another point from VanderWal made it 20-15 but USI would storm back to trim the margin to 22-21 and 23-22 but the Warriors won the final two points, including a kill from Fike and a service ace from Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy).

Southern Indiana led the second set 10-3 and 16-12 eventually.  Wayne State pulled within one at 16-15 on a USI attacking error.  The visiting Eagles led 18-15 before WSU scored five straight points to regain the lead 20-18.  Wayne State would win 25-20 and take a 2-0 match lead.

Madelyn Krenz (Chenoa, Ill. / Prairie Central) gave the Green & Gold a 6-4 lead.  Halle Shell (Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) served an ace and pushed the Warriors' lead to 14-8.  A Southern Indiana service error made it 20-15 in favor of WSU before the Warriors would complete the sweep with a 25-18 victory.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wagner paced the WSU attack with 14 kills on 37 swings, while Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich) finished with 35 assists.  Benoit led the defense with 14 digs.

MATCH TWO vs. MALONE (L, 2-3 / 18-25, 25-17, 23-25, 33-31, 6-15)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors led 5-4 early in the opening set as the two teams traded runs.  WSU led 9-6 after a service ace by Shell.  The Pioneers responded with a 4-0 rally to regain a 12-10 advantage but the Green & Gold would continue to fight.  Wayne State led 14-13 after a kill from Shell and a Malone attacking error but MU answered with a 6-1 run to extend its lead to 19-15.  The visitors led 23-16 and would go on to win 25-18.

The Pioneers started the second set by leading 8-6 but WSU quickly regained the lead, 9-8, after kills from Fike and Krenz plus a combo block by Fike and Krenz.  Two points from VanderWal and a kill by Summer Farris (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington) made it 15-13 and an ace by Duffield later in the set gave the home bench a 21-16 advantage.  The momentum stayed with the Warriors when WSU won the final four points to win 25-17.

Wayne State led 3-1 early in the third set but trailed 6-5 after an attacking error.  The game was tied at 10-10 but MU used a 5-0 rally to sprint out to an 18-11 lead.  The Green & Gold were powered by back-to-back kills from VanderWal to cap a 4-0 flurry and pull within three, 18-15.  The Pioneers led 23-18 but WSU battled back to within a point, 23-22 and 24-23 but MU captured the 25th and final point to go ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five match.

Malone won the first five points of the fourth set and eventually led 11-5.  However, WSU would stick around and battle back to trim the deficit to one, 12-11, on consecutive kills by Fike.  MU used a 6-0 run to give itself a comfortable 18-11 advantage.  However, Wayne State mounted an exciting comeback and tied the set at 23-23 and took a 24-23 lead on the following possession.  Each team had several opportunities to end the set with MU leading 27-26, 28-27 and 30-29.  A kill by VanderWal delivered WSU's 30th point of the game and an MU error made it 31-30 in favor of the Warriors.  MU tied the set at 31-31 but Wayne State won the final two points on back-to-back visiting errors to capture the set 33-31 and force a fifth set.

 The visiting Pioneers set the tone early in the decisive set, leading 6-1.  That margin would be too much to overcome and Malone would on to win 15-6 and take the match 3-2.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
VanderWal posted a career-best 17 kills on 43 swings to finish with a .233 hitting percentage.  Wagner tallied 13, while Krenz and Fike both collected 10 kills.  Duffield dished out 51 assists and led the defense with 17 digs.

UP NEXT
The Warriors will begin GLIAC play on Friday against Parkside at 7:00 p.m. inside the Matthaei before hosting Purdue Northwest at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

 
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