Basketball teams head to Upper Peninsula

The Grand Valley State men’s and women’s basketball teams will cross the Mackinac Bridge hoping to improve their road records this week at Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech.

The GVSU women (9-3, 6-2 GLIAC) have not lost a home game this season, but are 2-3 on the road. Brionna Barnett and the Lakers will look to continue their ascent in the GLIAC standings with a win against NMU (7-5, 5-3), which is 5-5 in its last 10 games.

Saturday’s contest at Michigan Tech (7-1, 11-1) figures to be even more of a challenge for the Lakers. The Huskies surrender the fewest points in the GLIAC, and draw the largest home crowd of any team in the conference.

The Laker men (8-6, 4-4) will also have their work cut out for them. Northern Michigan (6-8, 4-4) ranks second in the conference when it comes to blocking shots, which could create problems for the attack-minded Lakers.

GVSU then travels to to Houghton, the place where its 2014 season ended in the GLIAC Tournament. The challenge for GVSU figures to be containing the GLIAC’s leading scorer, Ben Stelzer, and the hot-shooting Huskies (9-3, 6-2) from the perimeter.

Volleyball team inks seven recruits for 2015

Grand Valley State head volleyball coach Deanne Scanlon announced Monday the addition of seven players — five freshmen and two transfers — who will join her team for the 2015 season.

All five freshmen are in-state recruits that will join GVSU this fall: Staci Brower (Byron Center), Jillian Butsavich (Milford), Madilyn Keller (Hudsonville), Brooke Smith (Croswell) and Taylor Stewart (Macomb). 

The transfers, Amanda Glaza (Grand Rapids Community College) and Danielle McCormick (Indiana State), are on campus this semester.

All seven newcomers figure to compete for playing time on a GVSU team that relied heavily on its seniors last season. The Lakers advanced to the NCAA Division II Semifinals in December, falling 3-0 to eventual runner-up Southwest Minnesota State.