SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) volleyball program is set to begin their second tournament of the season with four matches in the Show-Me State, hosted by Missouri S&T.
On the first day of the tournament, the Lakers will face the Emporia State (ESU) Hornets at 11 a.m. before taking on the host school, Missouri S&T Miners, in the afternoon. Then on Saturday, the Lakers will match up with the Union (Tenn.) Bulldogs with an 11 a.m. start time before facing regional foe, Kentucky Wesleyan (KWC), at 1 p.m. that afternoon for their final match of the weekend.
The Lakers are coming off of an 0-4 showing at the U.P. Open, hosted by Northern Michigan University, but despite the record, there were still plenty of positives such as Emily Kalinowski (South Lyon, Mich.) being named to the all-tournament team after surpassing 1500 career assists, Mariana Velasque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) averaging 3.13 kills per set while also boasting a GLIAC-leading eight solo blocks, and freshman Rachel Steele (Eaton Rapids, Mich.) having an efficient debut against the No. 2 ranked team in the nation with nine kills on a hitting percentage of .429.
Emporia State enters the tournament with a 3-1 overall record after competing at the Kansas City Classic to open the season, including a 3-0 sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan whom the Lakers will face a day later. Sandora Sasaki, who was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Offensive Athlete of the Week, led her team to the program's best start since 2019 while leading all MIAA attackers with 52 total kills on the weekend. She would also go on to record a career-high 15 kills on a hitting percentage of .370 against KWC. This will mark the first meeting between ESU and LSSU in the series' history.
The Miners are coming off of a 1-2 showing at the Tampa Classic over Labor Day Weekend with both losses coming against ranked opponents, first falling in four sets to 24th-ranked Gannon before facing a 3-0 setback against fifth-ranked Tampa. Missouri S&T appeared to be on the verge of an 0-3 overall record in their final match of the event against Central Missouri before rallying from down two sets to win the game. Offensively, the Miners run a balanced attack with Jordan Burton and Madelyn Mason leading the team in kills while each averaging at least three kills per set.
The Bulldogs were selected to finish fourth in the Gulf South Conference after a historic 2022 season for the program in which they finished second in both their conference's regular season and tournament while boasting a 22-10 overall record. However, they have gotten off to a much slower start than anticipated with an 0-4 showing at the Patriot Classic in which they were winners of only a single set in four matches.
The Lakers will then close the Missouri S&T Tournament against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers who also opened the season with an 0-4 overall record at the Kansas City Classic. The Panthers fell in four sets against Great Lakes Valley Conference foe, William Jewell, in their season opener, but they would go on to lose in straight sets for the remaining three contests. The Lakers last faced the Panthers at the 2022 Midwest Regional Crossover in which KWC came away with a 3-1 victory.
UP NEXT
The Lakers will open up conference play next week when they travel to Purdue Northwest on Thursday, Sept. 14 before their home-opener against Saginaw Valley State two days later.