GVSU women’s tennis sweeps weekend series against Tiffin, Ashland

The Grand Valley State women’s tennis team kept their undefeated record intact against Tiffin and Ashland universities this past weekend.  

On Friday, Oct. 13, GVSU faced off against the Tiffin Dragons in what was a contested match. After winning the first doubles match 8-4 with Alexa Sweeney and Aimee Moccia, GVSU struggled in the second one, losing a tough 9-7 from the number two doubles.

However, Abby Perkins and Livia Christman shifted the momentum in GVSU’s favor by winning the third pairing by a score of 8-4, giving the Lakers the edge.

Tiffin did not give up, splitting the six singles matches with GVSU. In the end, the last win in doubles gave the ultimate victory to GVSU after a tough battle, giving them confidence entering their series against Ashland.

After struggling against Tiffin, GVSU rolled over Ashland Saturday, Oct 14. GVSU’s Moccia dominated both in singles and doubles, winning 6-4/6-0 on her own and battling to a 9-7 win with her teammate Sweeney.

GVSU concluded the weekend on another tough win, this time against Wayne State with a record of 6-1 overall. GVSU kept their focus sharp and won 5-4 to end a successful weekend.

GVSU is now 8-0 on the season and will look to keep the momentum going next weekend when hosting Saginaw Valley State and Northwood University.

GVSU volleyball goes 2-1 during 2017 Midwest Region Crossover

The Grand Valley State volleyball team (10-10, 5-4 GLIAC) headed to Aurora, Illinois, to face non-conference opponents University of Illinois Springfield (11-8), No. 1-ranked Lewis University (20-1) and University of Indianapolis (11-10) this past weekend.

During their first game against Illinois Springfield Friday, Oct. 13, the Lakers traded set victories with the Prairie Stars, winning the first and third sets to force a fifth set. The Lakers won the final set 15-12 to gain control of the match with a 3-2 overall victory. GVSU narrowly led the match in kills (68-67), aces (5-3), digs (66-64) and blocks (11-6). Key players for the lakers were junior Hannah Murdock (17 kills, one ace), senior Sydney Doby (15 kills, four aces), junior Shannon Winicki (12 kills) and junior Staci Brower (12 kills, two aces, four blocks).

Just three hours after their first matchup, the Lakers faced up against No. 1-ranked Lewis, where the Flyers swept the Lakers in three sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-16). GVSU led the game in digs (41-40), but the Flyers dominated in kills (43-32), assists (41-32), aces (8-4) and team blocks (10-5). Key players for the Lakers included Murdock (seven kills, four assists), Jayci Suseland (six kills, one block) and Doby (six kills, three blocks).

In the last event of the weekend tournament, the Lakers took care of Indianapolis in four sets (27-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19) Saturday, Oct. 14. Although the Greyhounds led the Lakers in kills, assists and digs, GVSU did tally more blocks (6-4) and aces (9-7) than Indianapolis. Brower led the Laker offense with 16 kills and two aces. Other notable performers were Doby (13 kills, four blocks), Suseland (12 kills) and Murdock (six kills, three blocks).

The Lakers will finally return to Allendale this upcoming weekend, as GVSU faces conference rivals Lake Superior State Friday, Oct. 20, and Saginaw Valley State Saturday, Oct. 21.