HAMMOND, Ind. -- The Wayne State University volleyball program (2-0 GLIAC) continued its season-opening week at Purdue Northwest (0-2 GLIAC) on Friday afternoon and the Warriors took set one (25-19), set two (25-23) and set three (25-18).  Dating back to the 2019 season, WSU has won nine of its last 10 matches.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wayne State led 7-5 early in the first set after a kill from redshirt sophomore Halle Shell (Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron Northern).  Shell blocked a Pride attack to make it 13-10 and a service ace by sophomore Maddy Benoit (Farmington, Mich. / Mercy) pushed WSU's lead to 17-13.  Kills from freshman Jenna Kray (Westerville, Ohio / Worthington Christian) and redshirt junior Lauren VanderWal (Caledonia, Mich.) increased the margin to 19-14.  The Warriors would go on to win 25-19 on a kill from sophomore Maddie Morrison (Flushing, Mich.).

The second set was tied at 5-5 after a block from Morrison and VanderWal.  The Pride jumped out to a 13-7 lead before WSU trimmed the deficit to one, 14-13.  Purdue Northwest would lead until a point from junior Kamryn Duffield (Romeo, Mich.) tied the game at 23-23.  The Green & Gold ended the set on a 6-1 run, including an ace from senior Julia Malewicz (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Academy for International Studies / Henry Ford II), to win 25-23.

Morrison continued to play well and her kill early in the third set gave Wayne State a 7-5 advantage.  Redshirt junior Taylor Wagner (St. Joseph, Mich. / Lakeshore) got in on the action and her point pushed the visitors' lead to 12-9.  A bad PNW set made it 17-10 and the margin grew to 20-13 after a kill from redshirt freshman Nicole Golder (New Baltimore, Mich. / Anchor Bay).  The Warriors would win 25-18 to complete their second sweep in as many days.  

COACH KOTH'S THOUGHTS
"It's very challenging to beat a team two days in-a-row.  PNW was very aggressive, especially in the second set but to our credit, we stayed very calm, focused on our execution and played very well down the stretch. This was a nice way start to the season!"

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Both Wagner and Morrison tallied nine kills as Wagner posted a .348 hitting percentage.  Duffield has 21 assists and Wagner had 13 digs.

ONE BIG THING
Wayne State hit .309 compared to Purdue Northwest's.176 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Grand Valley State on Thursday at 6:00 PM.