Eastern Wayne Today

Kayla Giroux, a junior middle blocker from Wayne State University, has been recognized as All-Region by both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA). This marks the second time in her career that she has received such honors. On Wednesday, Giroux was named AVCA First Team All-Region and D2CCA Second Team All-Region. She previously earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region accolades as a freshman in 2022 when she was also honored as the AVCA Midwest Freshman of the Year.

"Kayla has performed at an elite level all season and is a major reason for the much improved season for the Warriors," stated head coach Tim Koth. "This award is much deserved."

Giroux joins an elite group as the fourth player in Wayne State's program history to be named AVCA All-Region twice. She follows Hall of Fame honoree Rachel Parham (1986-87), Sarha Gosselin (2008-09), and Kristen Bulkiewicz (2011-12). No player from Wayne State has achieved this honor three times, setting up Giroux to potentially be the first next fall.

In this season, Giroux led the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) with a hitting percentage of .404, ranking 11th nationally. She recorded 370 kills, placing her fourth in the league and 59th in Division II. Notably, Giroux is the only middle blocker among GLIAC's top five kill leaders; others are outside hitters. Her hitting percentage of .404 set a new program record, surpassing her previous school record of .3538 set last season.

Defensively, Giroux excelled as one of GLIAC's best blockers statistically with 112 total blocks, including 20 solo blocks and 92 block assists at an average of 1.09 blocks per set, ranking third in the conference. Throughout this season, she set career highs in multiple categories including kills per set (3.59), total attacks (727), service aces (13), digs per set (0.58), and points per set (4.36). Remarkably, these achievements came while playing fewer sets than in previous seasons.

Over her career so far, Giroux holds a hitting percentage of .363—the highest in program history—and is approaching significant milestones: needing just 22 more kills to reach 1,000 and positioning herself to break into Wayne State's all-time top ten with another 176 kills or even into their top three with an additional 334 kills.

The D2CCA and AVCA will announce their respective All-American Teams on December 11th. If selected again this year, Giroux would become Wayne State's first All-American since Katarzyna Sak in 2010 and only its fourth ever.