The No. 11 Grand Valley State University volleyball team (27-2) advanced to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championship game after sweeping Davenport University (10-19), and narrowly pulling a win over Northern Michigan University (20-9). Wrapping up the regular season with a 25-2 record, the team finished with their highest ranking of the season at 11th in the NCAA Division II poll.

GVSU took the lead against Davenport in the opening set with a kill by sophomore middle hitter Paige Sanders. The Lakers built a small lead from there, and carried it until halfway into the set. Then, the Panthers tied things up with a five-point run. Following a timeout, GVSU found their rhythm with a pair of kills, winning set one 25-20.

Switching sides for set two, GVSU opened with a four-point run for an early lead. After a Davenport timeout, a kill from junior setter Meghan O’Sullivan kicked off a five-point run, putting the Lakers up 12-3. Dominance on the Lakers’ end continued throughout the second set, as they held a lead of at least double Davenport’s points the entire set, winning set two 25-11. 

A kill by redshirt sophomore middle hitter Brianna Stawski kicked off set three. A close score held throughout the set, but GVSU started to pull away with kills by O’Sullivan, Sanders and sophomore outside hitter Kate Gourdeau. The Lakers completed the sweep, taking set three 25-20.

The Lakers next took on NMU in the conference semifinals, hosted at Ferris State University. Although GVSU swept the Wildcats at home in their previous matchup this season, Northern Michigan looked to keep things closer this time around.

Set one was close up until the final point, with the lead swapping seven times throughout the set. Kills by sophomore middle hitter Kennedy Arp and junior outside hitter Kendall Stover secured set one for the Lakers, 25-21.

Stover, who led her team this match in kills and digs, was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week heading into the tournament. 

“My team winning is more important than the awards,” said Stover, “I am more focused on trying to be a leader for my team now. It is cool to get seen and recognized by the conference, but it only goes so far.”

NMU took an early lead from GVSU’s attack errors, and carried that small lead throughout the second set. The Lakers fought back, and were eventually able to take the lead, 20-19. Each team fought hard, but the Wildcats took set two, 26-24.

Momentum continued for NMU, as they started the third set with three straight kills. They continued to build off of this lead deep into the set, and eventually won set three, 25-20. Behind in sets, the Lakers rallied heading into set four.

Although Northern Michigan scored first, the Lakers responded with a strong seven-point run to begin set four. This time around, the Lakers built off of the early lead. A final kill by Stover tied the match at two sets a piece, with the Lakers winning set four, 25-16.

In the fifth and final set, a team only needs to score 15 points to win. With each team on the verge of elimination, back-and-forth scoring kept things close. An attack error by NMU gave the Lakers the final point needed to win set five, 16-14.

Moving on, GVSU will take on No. 1 Ferris State University (30-0) in the conference final, and with the NCAA tournament shortly after that, the players are preparing for a change in opponents.

“Not having as much time to prepare for opponents changes how we have to do things at practice,” said head coach Jason Johnson. “(Regardless), we use every bit (of time) we have to prepare as much as possible for whoever is next. Our goal has always been to make our way through this tournament, but we now know that every match is a one-and-done. There is no opportunity to play the next day if you’re not successful in the day you’re on.”

Stover noted that to her, the team hasn’t had an easy schedule thus far.

“We haven’t had an easy schedule, so every time that we step on the court we have had to have some kind of competitive mindset, Stover said. “That will carry on into the postseason and our future opponents.”

Further, Stawski emphasized that each postseason game acts as practice for the next matchup.

“We can learn what we need to work on in one match, and use that to work on whoever is next on the schedule,” Stawski added.