Quick hits: Men’s basketball preseason charity win, volleyball’s Sydney Doby GLIAC award, club wrestling success

Lanthorn Sports

Sydney Doby Named GLIAC Player of the Week

Grand Valley State senior middle blocker Sydney Doby won her first career GLIAC South Division Player of the Week honor for her performance during the week of Monday, Oct. 23, through Sunday, Oct. 29, in the Lakers’ wins against Tiffin and Ashland universities.

Doby racked up 27 kills on 61 attempts while committing only five errors. She added 17 digs, good for third most on the team over the pair of games, and a team-high four block assists.

Her strongest performance came Friday, Oct. 27, against the Tiffin Dragons in a tight 3-2 victory. Doby’s contributions were vital to the win as the Lakers found themselves in a 2-0 hole early before storming back for the comeback victory with 15 kills from Doby, the second most for GVSU.

The Lakers, now 14-10 (9-4 GLIAC), will look to extend their season-high five-game win streak Saturday, Nov. 4, against the Wayne State Warriors (14-10, 9-4 GLIAC) in Detroit.

GVSU hoops play first exhibition game of season

With basketball season on the horizon, the Grand Valley State Lakers made the short trek to Hope College to do battle with the Dutchmen in an exhibition game for charity, benefiting the American Red Cross for hurricane relief. The theme of charity drew a crowd of approximately 1,100 fans into the gym for the exhibition.

The Lakers came out on top 84-72 despite trailing early. Guard Lance Dollison led GVSU in scoring with 15 points, all of which came in the first 20 minutes, as the swingman shot four of seven from deep. Two of the triples came in the last minute in the first half, allowing the Lakers to take a 7-point lead into the break.

Guard Chris Dorsey and forward Ben Lubitz added 14 points apiece as GVSU shot 30 for 57 from the field, including eight for 21 from three. The Lakers also scored 36 points off of turnovers.

The Lakers will wrap up their exhibition season with a trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take on the University of Michigan Wolverines Friday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. before kicking off their season against Missouri-St. Louis one week later Friday, Nov. 10, in Big Rapids, Michigan, as part of the GLIAC/GLVC challenge.

Three Lakers claim titles in club wrestling showdown

In their first action of the 2017-18 season, the Grand Valley State club wrestling team sent eight wrestlers to the annual Great Lakes Conference Fall Brawl. Of the eight competitors, three Lakers walked away with titles and seven placed in the top three.

Freshman Joseph Posledni, who weighed in at 157 pounds, took three bouts en route to winning a title, including one against teammate Nico Martini, who had won two matches prior to the final showdown with Posledni.

Another bracket saw two Lakers duke it out in the finals where two GVSU freshmen, Brady Bischer and Nick Chapman, sparred before Bischer came out victorious.

Heavyweight freshman Michael Krahulik won his bracket as well, while a handful of his teammates placed in the top three of their respective weight classes.

Friday, Nov. 3, marks the next action for Laker wrestlers at the Muskegon College Jayhawk Duals at 5:30 p.m and again the next evening in the Ben McMullen Open at 9:30 a.m.