Grand Valley State University’s volleyball team swept Lake Superior State University and Saginaw Valley State University 3-0 in both of their games this weekend.
On Friday, Sept. 27, the GVSU Lakers dominated against LSSU with a 3-0 sweep. They won their sets with scores of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-22. This win for the Lakers counted as their thirty-fifth consecutive victory over LSSU, with the record dating back to 2002.
With GVSU’s current dominant record and ranking, teams such as LSSU can easily be brushed off by the Lakers. However, the team’s head coach Jason Johnson feels that regardless of the opponent’s record, playing away games is essential to being a skilled team.
“No matter what the record of a team might be, travel is a great equalizer,” Johnson said. “You must go and play in someone else’s gym, and manage what their strengths are. We still have a lot to work on and get better at, so every match we play is another opportunity to do that.”
GVSU started their first set against LSSU strongly with an early lead of 10-4. They held this lead up until a service error from freshman Grace Busold awarded LSSU a point. LSSU took advantage of this, and gained some momentum. They managed to slightly bridge the gap, bringing the score to 11-8. However, their momentum didn’t last long before GVSU closed the door on them with a kill by Kendall Stover.
Following the kill by Stover, GVSU scored three more back-to-back points, including an impressive ace by setter Meghan O’Sullivan, taking the score to 15-8.
At the end of the opening set with a score of 24-16, LSSU began to feel the pressure. They fought fiercely to catch up, and were able to bring the score to 24-19. Despite the effort they exerted, the Laker’s Stover triumphantly closed the set with a kill.
The second set started similarly to the first one, with GVSU taking an early 12-5 lead. Following their lead, things began to heat up, and the two teams went back and forth until the end of the set. In spite of the back and forth, the Lakers never lost their lead, and they closed out the second set with a service ace from libero Julia Blaney.
In the final set, LSSU kept the Lakers on their toes with a game of tug of war for the win. For the first few plays, both teams exchanged back-and-forth kills in a battle for the lead until LSSU’s Jordyn Haller made an attack error, giving the lead to GVSU 9-8. The Lakers held this lead for most of the set until Haller tied up the score 19-19 with a kill.
Following Haller’s point, GVSU dug deep and scored five consecutive points to bring the match to game point. With the game on the line, LSSU raced to catch up with a commendable effort displayed by LSSU’s middle blocker Morgan Deming. Despite their effort to catch up, a service error by Deming secured the win for GVSU.
Laker Jordyn Gates dominated with 10 kills and 15 assists, along with Katie Goudreau, who had seven kills.
Following GVSU’s triumph over LSSU, they competed the next day against the SVSU Cardinals with another 3-0 sweep. The Lakers won their sets 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19.
The opening set began with the Lakers taking the lead 8-3. The Cardinals gradually began to catch up until they were neck and neck with the Lakers, with a close 18-17 score. Despite this, the Lakers never gave up their lead, and the team won the first set 25-20.
During the second set, the Cardinals upped their offense and stayed neck and neck with the Lakers the majority of the set. The Lakers gradually began to pull away following a kill from Goudreau, which made the score 18-16. The Lakers wrapped up the set with a six-point lead, 25-19.
The final set started close, with the Cardinals consistently trailing behind the Lakers, until a kill by Busold brought the score 10-8. After Busold’s kill, the Lakers maintained control of the set.
The Lakers claimed victory over the Cardinals with another six-point lead over SVSU on the last set, ending the game with a final score of 25-19.
By the end of the game, Kendall Stover once again led with nine kills, Brianna Stawski had eight, and O’Sullivan had seven kills, in addition to 14 assists.
