In what has become a near annual rivalry between Grand Valley State and Lewis at the GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament, the #11 Lakers survived a tough test from the Flyers on Friday afternoon (Oct. 17) in Aurora, Ill. by winning a 3-1 contest (20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20).
 
Although GVSU and Lewis haven't met up since 2011 at the yearly tournament involving the Midwest Region's two conferences, the teams had played each other three straight years (2009, 2010, 2011), with every match going to five sets. Lewis won two of those three contests, but the Lakers earned a little revenge with a solid four-set win on Friday by nabbing the final three sets.
 
The victory - GVSU's 12^th in a row - puts the team at 14-2 overall. Grand Valley State has won seven straight contests at the Crossover Tournament, with its last loss - coincidentally - coming to Lewis in 2011. The Flyers are now 14-4 on the year.
 
GVSU is the GLIAC's top seed in the tournament, while Lewis is the fourth seed out of the GLVC.
 
All four sets were decided by five points or less and the scores were highly indicative of the type of match that was played. The opening set was the most back and forth, with the score being tied nine times and also seeing five lead changes. With the score tied for the final time at 15-15, Lewis notched 10 of the final 15 points of the set, as the Lakers were unable to pull even down the stretch.
 
In set two, Grand Valley State opened a 13-7 lead after a solo block and a kill from junior Betsy Ronda, a kill from freshman Sydney Doby, and an ace from senior Christina Canepa. Lewis, however, came back and pulled within a point at 17-16  before senior Abby Aiken put down a kill. Junior Kaleigh Lound and Ronda followed Aiken's kill with two of their own and GVSU was back in control, 20-16. The Flyers made the score 22-21 before a big kill from sophomore Carley Gross kept the Lakers in front. Doby's kill ended the set and evened up the match score.
 
Lewis raced out to an 8-3 lead in the third set before Grand Valley State began to chip away. Thanks to strong serving from Canepa - which included back-to-back aces - the Lakers went from trailing 14-11 to ahead 15-14. Senior Kaitlyn Wolters registered a kill and a service ace around a Ronda kill and GVSU was in control. Two late kills from Lound kept the Lakers in front, while Doby again ended the set with another kill from Wolters. GVSU hit .343 in the third frame, while Lewis connected at a .394 rate.
 
Set four saw Grand Valley State score the first four points, but Lewis quickly came back to knot the set at 7-7. Ronda delivered three kills in the middle of the set, pushing the Lakers back out to an 18-13 cushion. The Flyers, however, never gave in, bringing the score back to 21-19 before Lound notched a huge solo block. Three straight kills from Aiken, Lound, and Ronda ended the match in GVSU's favor.
 
Ronda totaled a match-best 18 kills and hit .361, while collecting 13 digs. Lound supplied 11 kills with a .346 attack clip and Aiken put down 10 kills, as well. She also picked up a team-best 20 digs, while senior Kourtney Wolters added 16 digs to go with five assists.
 
Sister Kaitlyn Wolters handed out 48 assists, while also securing 14 digs, seven kills, and three aces. Doby recorded eight kills and Gross added five. Canepa tallied a dozen digs and served up four aces.
 
The final statline saw some similarities between the teams. GVSU held a slim margin in hitting percentage (.228 to .226), while each team served up seven aces. The Lakers, however, registered 61 kills to just 45 for Lewis. Grand Valley State also picked up 78 digs (Lewis had 65) and dished 58 assists (41 for the Flyers). Lewis led in blocks, 7-3.
 
GVSU is back in action on Saturday (Oct. 18) with a pair of contests. The Lakers face sixth-seeded Missouri S&T at 11:00 a.m. ET before a showdown with Rockhurst, the second seed from the GLVC, at 5:00 p.m. ET.