The No. 14 Grand Valley State University volleyball team was eager to see the countless hours of offseason preparation translate into results on the court at the Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo.

However, the Lakers seemingly left Colorado this weekend with more questions than answers. The 2-2 record certainly wasn’t the result the reigning GLIAC champions expected to come home with.

“Physically, we were the best team there,” said GVSU coach Deanne Scanlon. “However, our mentality is poor right now. We should be 4-0, there’s no two ways about it, and I really didn’t expect this type of performance from this group. It’s disappointing to say the least.”

All was well after the first match of the season, as GVSU swept Minnesota State University Moorhead 3-0. The victory was the 500th of Scanlon’s career.

She became just the second GLIAC coach in history to reach the 500-win total. Her predecessor, Laker legend Joan Boand (545 wins), is the only other coach to accomplish the feat.

“It was a pretty hectic first day of competition so the thought of me surpassing the 500-win total didn’t really pass my mind until after the fact,” Scanlon said. “It’s a weird feeling, passing 500 wins, it shows just how long I’ve been in the Grand Valley family.”

During Friday’s second match, however, the Lakers’ mood quickly turned somber as they dropped a five-set thriller to No. 20 Wayne State University (Neb.).

GVSU was cruising early on, as they claimed the first two sets of the match. However, things went south in a hurry after they dropped a trio of consecutive sets (12-25, 19-25, 6-15).

“The five-set loss proved how weak we are mentally,” said GVSU senior Abby Aiken. “It’s frustrating, especially because we are such a seasoned group, we have all been there before. I think we all need hold each other accountable and realize that we can’t just show up.”

On Saturday morning, the Lakers were able to rebound with a 3-0 sweep of Dominican University of California (25-16, 25-20, 25-12), as junior Betsy Ronda led GVSU with 10 kills and a .526 hitting percentage.

Then, the weekend roller coaster continued. The Lakers closed out their final match of the Oredigger Classic with a surprising loss, a 3-1 defeat against Augustana College (24-26, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25).

“There were some good things to take out of this weekend, but it didn’t happen on a consistent enough basis, that’s where we got ourselves into trouble,” said GVSU senior setter Kaitlyn Wolters. “We struggled with putting complete games together. Our complacency was a result of that.”

GVSU will have a week to fine tune their game and make adjustments before GLIAC play starts. The Lakers open conference play on Friday with a trip to Wayne State University in Detroit at 7 p.m.

In the meantime, Scanlon and the Lakers will hope to hit the reset button.

“You have to be willing to make changes in your game when your opponent adjusts to stop you,” Scanlon said. “It’s about leaving your comfort zone and our girls proved they were unable to do that.

“It’s up to the upperclassmen to get the job done. They know what they are capable of. It’s time to put up or shut up.”