The No. 21 Grand Valley State University women’s volleyball team (12-3) hosted a pair of home games, facing Roosevelt University (1-16) and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (10-5). GVSU took care of business in the Friday and Saturday games, sweeping each team in all three sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-19) and (25-20, 25-21, 25-21).
GVSU had an energetic start in their first matchup against Roosevelt as they went on a 5-0 run, forcing a timeout. The Lakers built on this momentum as they increased their lead to 9-2. The majority of the first set saw the Lakers keeping a five-point lead, which they maintained, taking set one, 25-21.
With 14 kills and 14 assists, GVSU dominated the first set. Senior outside hitter Kendall Stover totaled four kills, while redshirt junior Brianna Stawski added three kills.
Stover discussed how the Lakers’ offense was able to control the first set.
“It all starts with the passers that pass the ball to the setters, and the setters gave me opportunities,” Stover said. “I had a lot of one-on-ones, so props to the setters.”
Set two was much more competitive and tougher for the Lakers to dominate, as there were multiple ties. An 8-0 run from GVSU allowed the team to pull away, winning the second set, 25-15.
Junior middle hitter Kennedy Arp set the tone in the second set with four kills, with junior outside hitter Sara Pahl tallying an additional four kills. A notable 13 kills and three service aces allowed GVSU to maintain their winning streak.
Although GVSU tried to pull ahead in the third set by building off the energy from the bench, Roosevelt did not make it easy, and kept it close. The Lakers started on a 3-0 run, but Roosevelt responded, making it 9-9. As the set went on, GVSU wore Roosevelt out and ultimately won the third and final set, 25-19.
In a match where GVSU never trailed, head coach Jason Johnson was pleased with the way his team played and progressed throughout the season.
“We spent a lot of time on our transition offense, and we did a good job of it tonight,” Johnson said. “Our passing was good throughout the match. We’ve had a lot of changes throughout the season, whether it was injury or moving pieces around so I don’t know if we’ve settled in fully yet. I think there is still a lot of growth in this team because of the changes we’ve gone through.”
Arp and Stover tied for a game-high nine kills, followed by Pahl’s eight. Sophomore setter Caroline Baker and senior setter Meghan O’Sullivan each totaled 16 assists, a game high. GVSU tallied 18 more kills and 16 more total attacks compared to Roosevelt.
The Lakers hosted Parkside the next day for their annual Cancer Awareness game. After a short 14-10 lead for the Rangers, GVSU strolled an 8-0 run led by O’Sullivan’s passing and Stover’s offense. In a back-and-forth first set, the Lakers survived 25-20.
GVSU trailed early for the second straight set, but showed resilience with junior outside hitter Kate Goudreau noting multiple kills. With three 3-0 runs, the Lakers controlled the match, winning set two, 25-21.
Set three took a different turn from the start, as GVSU went up 6-2, which was matched later in the set with a 11-9 score. After Parkside went on a 4-0 run and trailed by one point, the Lakers rallied and went on a 6-3 run to close the match and win in three sets.
O’Sullivan combined for a double-double after she notched 18 assists and 11 points. Stover led the team with 15.5 points and 13 digs, while Baker passed it all over the court with a team-high of 20 assists. For Stover, this was another record-setting game, scoring her 1000th career kill against Parkside.
GVSU improves to 12-3 in the season and 7-1 in conference play. The Lakers will next travel to Hammond, Indiana, for the Midwest Regional Crossover this weekend, which will feature 38 Division II teams.
