ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Lake Superior State volleyball program (5-22, 4-12 GLIAC) fell on the road to Grand Valley State (16-11, 9-7 GLIAC) by a final score of 3-1 on Saturday.
Both teams battled early on their way to a 5-5 tie, but back-to-back service aces from Mariana Velasque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) propelled her team to a 4-0 run to take the lead. Grand Valley fought back, but Taylor Fleming (Rogers City, Mich.) would then assert herself with back-to-back kills to put Lake State back up by five. Both teams would continue to trade points for nearly the remainder of the set, but a 4-0 run that was capped off with consecutive service aces from setter Emily Kalinowski (South Lyon, Mich.) secured the opening set for Lake State.
Grand Valley was able to strike quickly in the second set to claim an early four-point advantage, and despite multiple kills from Valeriya Varnakova (Ufa, Russia), Grand Valley pressed the attack to tie up the match at 1-1 by taking the second set by a score of 25-14.
Grand Valley would once again use an early 4-0 run to take an early lead in the third set, but three straight kills from Velasque allowed her team to regain the advantage. Both teams would continue to go back and forth throughout the set with Lake State gaining a 17-15 lead. However, Grand Valley managed to pull ahead with a 6-1 run, and they ultimately claimed the set, 25-21.
Both teams would go blow for blow to open the fourth set with neither team able to gain an edge. However, Grand Valley was eventually able to put together a 7-1 run midway through the set to pull ahead. The Lakers would keep fighting until the end, but it would not be enough as Grand Valley would win the set and the match by respective scores of 25-19 and 3-1.
Despite the loss, Velasque would lead all players with 14 kills while Varnakova was not far behind with 12 spikes of her own. Meanwhile, Kalinowski led all players in assists with 35 while also picking up 12 digs for the double-double. On the defensive end, Sydney Briney (St. Joseph, Mich.) and Ally Lasley (Birch Run, Mich.) would also finish with double-digit digs while Emilee McDaniel (Manistique, Mich.) and Maggie Morris (Schoolcraft, Mich.) each added at least three blocks.
The Lakers return to action on Friday, Nov. 4 when they host the Davenport Panthers with the first serve scheduled for 4 p.m.
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