SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) volleyball team (8-22, 5-13 GLIAC) fell to the top-seeded Grand Valley State (GVSU) Lakers (25-3, 16-2 GLIAC) in straight sets in the opening round of the GLIAC tournament on Wednesday.
Grand Valley jumped out to an early lead, but LSSU responded with kills from Emily Kalinowski (South Lyon, Mich.) and Maggie Morris (Schoolcraft, Mich.). Lake State would then battle back with a 5-0 run that featured three service aces from Jordyn Haller (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.). LSSU was then able to get back within two with a kill from Valeriya Varnakova (Ufa, Russia), bringing the score to 16-18 and forcing a GVSU timeout. Grand Valley went back up by five after the timeout, but the Lakers rallied with a 3-0 run of their own. However, GVSU would ultimately close out the opening set by a score of 25-20.
LSSU would jump out to an early lead with back-to-back kills from Emilee McDaniel (Manistique, Mich.) as both teams battled to an 8-8 stalemate. Grand Valley was able to pull ahead, but Lake State responded with multiple kills from Morris to get back within two. Grand Valley was once again able to pull back out ahead, but LSSU responded with a 3-0 scoring spurt of their own. However, despite a strong kill from Mariana Velasque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), GVSU was able to close out the second set 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Both teams battled early in the third set, but multiple service aces from Haller propelled her team on a 4-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. Grand Valley would retake the lead with a 4-0 run of their own, but a Sydney Briney (St. Joseph, Mich.) service ace had LSSU back within one. LSSU would then go on another 4-0 run that was capped off with an ace from Kalinowski to go up 20-18, forcing a Grand Valley timeout. However, GVSU was able to retake the lead, and despite a pair of kills from Velasque to have Lake State only trailing 23-24, Grand Valley was able to survive and hold on to narrowly take the set by a score of 25-23, closing out the match in straight sets.
Velasque led the way offensively with ten kills with Morris close behind at eight. Meanwhile, Haller served a career-high six aces, and Kalinowski led all players in assists with 27.