The Grand Valley State volleyball team was back on the court this weekend for two home matches against the Wayne State Warriors and the Ashland Eagles. Despite the Lakers’ efforts, they were unable to secure a win in either of these matches.

Friday’s faculty appreciation night match-up against the Warriors was a nail-biter that went into five sets. The Lakers fought until the very end, but were unable to finish with a win against Wayne State.

Coach Deanne Scanlon believes that leadership and confidence are the key things needed to be able to have success when in tough matchups like Friday’s — both of which the team struggled to find.

“We need to have someone on the floor that steps up and takes control, we have too many people who are deferring,” Scanlon said. “When the big moments come you have to be willing to take a tough swing or a hard serve, but right now whether it is lack of confidence or something else, we don’t have anyone stepping up as a leader.”

Saturday’s match-up against Ashland was a sweep for the Eagles, as they won three straight sets to finish off the match against the Lakers. GVSU made themselves a tough competitor against the Eagles, but eventually fell short, unable to obtain a win against a team that Scanlon thought to be beatable.

“They have two really good outside hitters they were very good and very efficient, but we also just made too many errors,” Scanlon said. “They are a good team, but I thought it was a winnable match.”

The Lakers leave with week with an overall record of 5-8 and a GLIAC record of 1-4, their only conference win being against the Davenport Panthers. Scanlon attributes some of the blame for their record on simple errors and inconsistencies that she hopes to have her team work on.

“The ball mentality has got to be better,” Scanlon said. “A lot of it has to do with just being an inconsistent whether it is an inconsistent pass, hit or set. In volleyball we have this saying: better the ball. When you are the next contact we need to make the situation better.”

GVSU plans to take what they have learned from their matches this week and improve in order to win their next match-ups. Next weekend, the Lakers will go on the road for the first time in five matches to face up against GLIAC foes in Purdue Northwest Prid Friday, Oct. 4, and the Wisconsin Parkside Rangers Saturday, Oct. 5. 

“We stick with the basics — when you make a lot of errors you need to see if it is technical or situational,” Scanlon said. “To me it seems technical, so in practice we need to work on fundamentals that maybe older teams may find mundane and not have to focus on but it is something that we will have to work on.”