Fresh off of three victories over Lewis University, Calvin College and Ashland University, the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will each put their winning streaks on the line when they host Division I foe Michigan State University Friday at 6 p.m. at Jenison High School.

Friday will mark GVSU’s (3-1,1-0 GLIAC) second matchup against a Division I school this season; the Lakers opened the season with a loss at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“Michigan State definitely has a strong swim program,” said GVSU head coach Andy Boyce. “We’re going to be going in there and aiming to see if we can take some events from them.”

Both the Michigan State men’s (1-1,0-1 Big Ten) and women’s (1-2,0-2 Big Ten) teams enter this Friday’s meet coming off of losses. The men dropped a 202-91 decision to Iowa on Oct. 22, and the women fell to Illinois 155.5-145.5 on Oct. 29.

It will be important for GVSU to get off to a fast start against Michigan State, Boyce said. GVSU is looking forward to starting the meet with strong showings from its top ranked medley relay teams.

“Right now our women’s and men’s medley teams are ranked top-five in Division II,” he said. “Getting started strong is big a part of getting out there and having a good meet.”

Rather than entering the meet intimidated by the larger school, the Lakers will look at the meet as an opportunity to compete against Division I talent.

“It’s always nice to go against bigger schools like Michigan State and see what we can do,” said senior Lauren Dorsey, who races in the breastroke and individual medley. “It’s good to race against people who can be a bit faster than you because it pushes you and make you go faster.”

Junior Raphael Santos, who races in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard fly, said he sees the opportunity to race against Division I opponents as an opportunity to gain experience for important meets down the road.

“This is a big challenge for us against a Division I school, and this will make us more mentally prepared for the conference meets.” Santos said. “This meet makes us stronger mentally wise, because we’re facing Division I swimmers.”

The Spartans had success against GVSU the past two years in this matchup.

GVSU has been swept in both the men’s and women’s divisions the past two years, but GVSU is looking forward to the challenge and, as Boyce said, “getting to that next level.”

“This is definitely stiffer competition,” he said. “But this is why we put them on our schedule, because they can push our swimmers and divers and make them better.”

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