UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team lost in the opening round of the 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Volleyball Tournament to the Davenport University Panthers by a score of 3-0 on Friday, April 9 in University Center, Mich. The Lakers will now play in the tournament's consolation bracket.
The Lakers dropped the match in three straight sets by scores of 25-12, 25-17, and 25-17 to the Panthers.
The first ten points of the match were evenly split with each team earning five points. The Lakers saw Camdyn Odykirk and Kyra Vezina each record kills in the opening plays of the set. Vezina would record a service ace to tie the game at five. The Panthers would respond with a run of seven points, led by strong serving from freshman setter Nicole Odeen.
LSSU's Malia Howe added a pair of kills and sophomore setter Emily Kalinowski notched an ace to bring the Lakers within five points of Davenport (14-9). However, the Panthers would take over to record 11 of the final 14 points in the set to take the first set by a score of 25-12.
The Lakers had to play from behind in the second set as the Panthers took an early 5-0 lead and would build a 14-5 lead over Lake Superior State. After Davenport took a 19-8 lead, the Lakers went on a run of five straight points thanks to strong serving from Odykirk (19-13). Howe added two more kills for the Lakers as the team tried to rally but the Panthers would secure the second set victory by a score of 25-17.
Lake Superior State got off to a solid start in the third set with the team taking an early 5-1 lead as Katja Wilhelms recorded an ace, and Odykirk and Howe each notched kills. Howe would add her second and third kills of the set to give the Lakers a 7-5 lead. Halle Grulke tallied a service ace to take a 7-6 lead over the Panthers.
The set remained closely contested as Davenport held a two point lead in the middle stages (13-11) but the Panthers would respond with six of the next seven points in the set to build a 19-12 lead. The Lakers would try to comeback in the final plays but the Panthers would take the set by a score of 25-17 to secure the opening round match win.
The Lakers finished the match with a total of 25 kills while the Panthers totaled 34 kills in three sets. Lake Superior was led by Howe, who finished the match with 12 kills. Davenport's Hayley Kreiger totaled a team-leading 16 kills in the match. Grulke led LSSU with 17 assists in the contest.
Defensively, the Lakers totaled 37 digs while the Panthers recorded 54 digs. Laker defensive specialist Sydney Briney led the team with 10 kills while Vezina and Hagelthorn, the Laker libero, were tied for second on the team with seven kills apiece.
The Lakers will be back in action tomorrow Saturday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. in the first round of the Consolation Bracket. The Lakers will play the non-advancing team in the Michigan Tech/Parkside Quarterfinal game. Fans can purchase access to the stream, by clicking here.
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