The Grand Valley State University volleyball team had a busy week playing in three GLIAC matches, two of which were at home. 

The first match-up saw the Lakers take on Davenport University, losing 3-1, though was closer than the final tally would imply. GVSU lost the first set 17-25. DU finished with significant advantages in hitting percentage and errors, hitting .250 with only three errors to GVSU’s .093 and nine errors.

The Lakers would bounce back in the second set and win 25-21, finishing with an impressive .516 hitting percentage and only two errors, while DU finished at .394 and 4 errors.

The last two sets would go similarly to the first for the Lakers. They dropped the last two with scores of 25-19 and 25-21. GVSU posted low hitting percentages of .159 and .145, respectively with three and seven errors. DU had percentages of .220 and .292 with only six combined errors in the sets.

Hannah Murdock led the Lakers in kills with 13, Staci Brower had 12 blocks, two aces and four blocks, and Alexandra Thompson finished the match with 12 kills, three aces and one block. Ashlyn Kartes led the team in assists with 35, Frankie Cavalarro had 10 assists and Kendall Yerkes had two.

The next match was against Purdue-Northwest, faring much better for GVSU sweeping the match 3-0, winning the sets 25-8, 26-24 and 25-16.

The Lakers dominated the match statistically, finishing the first set with a hitting percentage of .444 while Purdue-Northwest finished with a -.125. GVSU had 15 kills and three errors, while Purdue Northwest had two kills and five errors. 

The Lakers had a .406 hitting percentage with 17 kills and four errors compared to Purdue-Northwest’s .135 hitting percentage with 12 kills and seven errors in the second set. The third set saw the Lakers finish at .355 with 14 kills and three errors. The Pride had a .095 hitting percentage, 10 kills and seven errors.

Brower led GVSU with 12 kills and one block, Murdock had 10 kills and Abby Graham had 9 kills and two aces. Ashlyn Kartes had 36 assists and Alexandra Thompson and Graham had two assists a piece.

The third and final game of GVSU’s week was against Wisconsin-Parkside University.

In the first set, GVSU won 25-17. The Lakers tallied a .111 hitting percentage to go along with 10 kills and six errors, while WPU finished the set with a -.083 hitting percentage with seven kills and 10 errors.

The second set was much closer in score and saw the Lakers pull out a 25-23 win. The Lakers hit more efficiently in this, set posting a .222 hitting percentage and having 13 kills with five errors. WPU had a .089 hitting percentage to go along with 15 kills and 11 errors.

Set three saw the Lakers barely lose 25-23. The Lakers hit .167 with 14 kills and seven errors. WPU hit .167 also but had 15 kills and eight errors.

GVSU sealed the match victory in the fourth set winning by a score of 25-10. GVSU hit .348 and had 11 kills with three errors while WPU hit -.062 with seven kills and nine errors.

Coach Deanne Scanlon was impressed with how the team played over the week.

“I think we’ve served and passed well all year long. That helps set the tone when you serve really tough and get the other team a little shaken in their serve receive, that puts you in a good position to defend.” Scanlon said.

Brower again led the team with 12 kills and eight blocks. Murdock had eight kills and two blocks and Kartes had five blocks and 38 assists.

“We saw that their outsides were the main people that were typically getting set, so I didn’t have to worry about the middle as much,” Brower said. “Not having to worry about the middle on the other side helps make decisions, to be able to close blocks either directions and making sure we saw where their defense was so I knew what shots were open for kills.”

GVSU hopes to improve upon their 9-4 overall record this weekend, as they travel to Marquette, MI, on Friday, Sept. 21 to play Northern Michigan (10-3, 2-3 GLIAC) before traveling to Houghton, Mich, to take on Michigan Tech (10-3, 4-1 GLIAC). Friday’s game is set to begin at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s game starts at 2 p.m.