Coming off a ten-game winning streak, the No. 13 ranked Grand Valley State University volleyball team (20-1) returned home, where they swept Northern Michigan University (13-7) 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 25, and followed up with a 3-1 win against Michigan Tech University (11-9) on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The Lakers enjoyed their return to Allendale, with their last five matches being away. Although they had been without home-court advantage, the team had gone undefeated in all of their away matches so far this season.
“Being back in front of our home crowd is big,” said head coach Jason Johnson. “Being in an environment and having facilities that you are familiar with is huge when it comes to performance. The later in the season when playoffs come, you are going to be playing at a lot of unfamiliar places, so having our stride in away matches will help us later in the season.”
Redshirt sophomore middle hitter Brianna Stawski expressed relief upon returning home.
“Finally coming back and playing here is such a relief,” Stawski said. “We love whenever we get to defend our home court.”
Senior libero Julia Blaney agreed with Stawski.
“(We love) any chance we get to play in front of our own people on our own courts,” Blaney said. “We do everything we can to make sure we win for the people who come and support us.”
An attack error by Northern Michigan started the Lakers off with the lead in the first set. From there, GVSU maintained momentum and the lead. Senior outside hitter Kendall Stover and sophomore middle hitter Paige Sanders helped the Lakers win the first set 25-13, with both Stover and Sanders leading the team in kills, hitting percentage and points thus far.
To start the second set, Northern Michigan rebounded, maintaining at least a one-point lead in a back-and-forth scoring battle. Towards the end of the set, the Wildcats stretched their lead by four, but the Lakers responded, tying the score 20-20. A kill by junior setter Meghan O’Sullivan gave GVSU a late lead, but Northern Michigan pulled ahead 24-21. With their backs against a wall at match point, the Lakers locked in and put together an overpowering run, swiping the set 28-26.
Closing in on another conference win, the Lakers started set three with a 5-1 run. They continued to play at the top of their game, holding the lead all of the way to a 25-16 victory, and a sweep over the Wildcats.
The following day, the Lakers started set one slow against the Huskies, but would pick up momentum late in the set. Michigan Tech responded with a strong run of their own, reaching match point at 24-23. Nevertheless, kills by Sanders and sophomore outside hitter Kate Goudreau wrapped up set one, 26-24, giving the Lakers a 1-0 lead.
GVSU got out to a hot start to begin the second set, going up 10-4. The Huskies were able to close the gap, but could not overcome the deficit, giving set two to the Lakers, 25-18.
Michigan Tech finally found their footing in the third set, taking an early lead and maintaining pressure on the Lakers. Although GVSU dropped set three 12-25 to the Huskies, set four was all they needed to secure the victory.
Taking a 7-3 lead in the fourth set, the Lakers inched closer to the win. The Huskies tied things up later in the set at 17, but it was not enough, and GVSU would take the final set, 25-21.
Currently on a 12 game win streak and sitting at 20-1, this is the team’s best start to a season in program history.
“This team wants to be in the NCAA tournament, and we want to make a deep run,” said Johnson. “To do that, you have to keep on showing up and performing.”
GVSU will head back out on the road to Davenport University (9-13) on Friday Nov. 1 and to No. 2 ranked rival Ferris State University (22-0) the following day, Saturday, Nov. 2.
