UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team dropped a match to the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals by a score of 3-0 on Sunday, March 12 in the Cardinal Gymnasium in University Center, Mich. in the second game of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) weekend series.
The Lakers dropped the match in three straight sets by scores of 25-11, 26-24, and 25-22 to SVSU.
The Cardinals got off to a strong start in the match as they took the first set by a score of 25-11 over the Lakers. The set was close in the opening stages as the Lakers trailed 10-7 at one point but Saginaw Valley would dominate the second half to take the opening set victory.
The Lakers would respond with two hard-fought sets against the Cardinals, as both were decided by a few points. The second set was won by SVSU by a score of 26-24.
LSSU took an early 4-1 lead in the second set as Halle Grulke, Sarah Bailey and Camdyn Odykirk each recorded kills for the Lakers. Saginaw Valley would close the gap and would eventually take a 13-9 lead over the Lakers.
Bethany Wilson added a kill and Sydney Briney notched a service ace to bring the Lakers back within two points (13-11) of the Cardinals. Down by three points, the Lakers would begin a rally as Grulke, and Malia Howe registered kills and Kaitlyn Bishop added an ace to tie the game at 20. After Wilson recorded a kill to give the Lakers a 21-20 lead.
The two teams traded points until the set was tied at 24 points. The Cardinals would register consecutive points over the Lakers to take the set, 26-24.
The third set also featured close play between the two GLIAC teams as the one point separated the Lakers and Cardinals through 11 points (5-6). The Lakers would go down by five points (15-10) to the Cardinals before sparking a comeback that would see the score tied at 22. Howe would lead the way for the Lakers in the stretch as she recorded a team-leading four kills in the span of play.
After the Lakers tied the set, the Cardinals would notch the final three straight points over LSSU to secure the match victory.
With the loss, the Lakers record drops to 0-8 this season as the team wrapped up the fourth week of GLIAC play.
The Lakers finished the match against the Cardinals registering a total of 27 kills, led by Howe who finished the match with a career-best nine kills. Grulke finished the contest against the Cardinals with five kills while also adding a team-best 14 assists in the match. Odykirk and Bailey each finished with four kills against SVSU.
Saginaw Valley totaled 32 kills in the trio of sets, led by Maria Vukaj who posted 15 kills.
Libero Sydney Briney led the team defensively with 11 digs while also posting one of the Lakers three service aces in the match.
The Lakers recorded 45 digs in the match as compared to 49 by the Cardinals.
The Lakers will play their final home series of the 2021 season next weekend as LSSU hosts a pair of games against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday, March 19 at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 20 at 1:00 p.m. in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
Follow the Lakers
Due to State of Michigan, GLIAC and Lake Superior State University mandates, fans are not currently permitted to attend any Laker sporting events. Even though spectators cannot currently attend Laker home games, there are still a number of ways that fans will be able to follow the game action. All Laker home games during the 2021 season will be available to watch live on Stretch TV. For more information or to sign up for a subscription, visit https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lssu/. Fans can also access live stats on lssulakers.com
For more information, visit lssulakers.com
Follow Laker Volleyball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for news, updates & more!