The Wayne State University volleyball team heads down to Ohio this weekend to take on Tiffin University on Saturday night and Ohio Dominican University on Sunday afternoon.
Live stats will be available from both
Tiffin and
Ohio Dominican. Fans can also watch Saturday’s match against the Dragons on
B2 Networks.
WEEK IN REVIEW
After being shut out at No. 24 Hillsdale to open conference play Sept. 7, Wayne State split a pair of three-set matches in its first home weekend of the season, defeating Lake Erie last Friday and losing to Ashland the following night.
The Warriors out-hit the Storm, .293 to -.145, in Friday’s victory which took just one hour to complete.
Katarzyna Sak (Warren, Mich./Cousino) had 15 kills, four more than the entire Lake Erie squad. Sak made just one attack error and hit .778, the highest single-match winning percentage in at least a decade.
Saturday’s match was closely contested, as neither WSU nor Ashland led by more than five points. Sak finished with a career-high 16 kills as well as four blocks.
Nicole Arends (Ravenna, Mich.) finished with 10 kills and a team-best .444 hitting percentage, while
Kristen Bulkiewicz (LaSalle, Ont./Sandwich) had six kills as well as nine digs.
SCOUTING TIFFIN
The Dragons, who went 4-29 overall a year ago and did not win a conference match, have started 3-0 in GLIAC play this season and 5-2 overall under new head coach Dana Cordova. After earning victories over Northwood and Lake Superior State last weekend, Tiffin shut out Findlay on Wednesday and is tied with Hillsdale for first place in the South Division.
Tiffin is led up front by Brittany Teaford and Brooke Bernabei, who came into this week ranked sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.340) and kills (3.77/set), respectively. Libero Lindsay Heller (5.18 digs/set) guides a Tiffin defense which ranks second in the league.
After the Dragons and Chargers meet on Friday, the Warriors will step into the Gillmor Center as Tiffin’s fifth straight home opponent. Wayne State won all five prior meetings with Tiffin, including four shutouts, dating back to 1997.
SCOUTING OHIO DOMINICAN
The Panthers, newcomers to the GLIAC in 2010, come into this weekend looking for their first conference victory of the year. ODU will host Findlay on Friday and Hillsdale on Saturday before the Warriors arrive in Columbus for Sunday’s encounter.
Ohio Dominican’s top hitter is Rachel Billing, who came into the week ranked seventh with a 3.75 kills/set average. Billing will enter Friday’s match against the Oilers needing just two kills to reach 1,000 for her career. Stacy Rogg leads the GLIAC in digs (6.50/set).
AT THE HELM
Phil Nickel is in his third season as Wayne State’s head volleyball coach and has a record of 39-25. In his four-plus year career, which includes two seasons at Thomas More College, Nickel is 73-68.
Cordova is in her first head coaching position at Tiffin, while Sandy Rowley is in her 22nd year at ODU with a career record of 437-369.
WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State comes into this weekend second in the conference in blocking (2.48 B/S), trailing only Hillsdale (2.93). Sak has the highest individual blocking average in the GLIAC (1.65) and the third-highest in Division II.
Sak also ranks fifth nationally in points per set (5.28) and 24th in kills per set (3.87). The latter figure is fifth-best in the conference.
Cydney Biessel (Ruby, Mich./Yale) is fifth in the GLIAC in assists (9.26), and libero
Lindsey Graciak (Westland, Mich./Livonia Churchill) ranks seventh in digs (3.78).
Five of Wayne State’s seven matches this season have been three-set results. The Warriors won two of the five – Sept. 4 vs. West Virginia State and last Friday against Lake Erie.
Twelve (12) of the 14 players on WSU’s roster played in at least one set in the win against the Storm.
