DETROIT – The 2025 Michigan Tech volleyball season came to an end with a 3-0 loss at Wayne State in the quarterfinal round of the GLIAC Tournament on Wednesday. The Warriors advanced 25-21, 26-24, and 25-19. Tech finished with a 12-16 record.
"We played hard and fought valiantly, but unfortunately came up short to a very talented Wayne State team," Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. "We made a big push in the second set but let up when it mattered and lost the momentum. I'm proud of this team for a solid year and look forward to putting in a lot of work in the offseason."
WSU (22-5) overcame eight ties and five lead changes in the first set and built a 23-15 lead. The Huskies didn't go quietly, scoring five straight before the home team got a kill by Leigha Baldwin for a setpoint lead followed by a kill by Kayla Giroux for the 1-0 lead.
Madelyn Torola had five kills for the Black and Gold.
The Huskies led for most of the second set and built an eight-point advantage. The Warriors stormed back and tied it at 24 after surviving five setpoints. Back-to-back blocks by Kayla Giroux and Kyleigh Weck put the home team up 2-0 at the break.
The Warriors used an 8-3 run in the third set to take command. They hit .379 in the third and forced Tech into nine hitting errors. Leigha Baldwin had five kills in the third, including the match-clinching point.
Rachel Zurek tallied a match-high 13 kills.
Madelyn Torola hit .412 and added nine kills and three blocks.
Madelynn Kreider set the offense with 33 assists and added eight digs.
Amelia Albers also had eight digs.
Leigha Baldwin led the Warriors with 12 kills, and Kayla Giroux added 10 kills and four blocks. Kayla Dulgar tallied 20 assists, and Lauren Essepreis had a match-high 15 digs.
Wayne State will meet Parkside in the semifinal on Saturday after the Rangers defeated Northern Michigan. Ferris State and Grand Valley State will meet in the other semifinal. The GLIAC Championship match will be staged on Sunday.