Friday (Oct. 30) - at Northern Michigan, 5:00 p.m.
Live Stats
 
Saturday (Oct. 31) - at Michigan Tech, 4:00 p.m.
Live Stats
 
The Grand Valley State volleyball team heads to the Upper Peninsula this weekend for an important conference road trip. On Friday night (Oct. 30), GVSU will take on Northern Michigan at 5:00 p.m. before traveling further north to Houghton to face Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31) at 4:00 p.m. The Lakers are looking to keep pace in the GLIAC standings with three home matches coming up next week.
 
At 8-3 in conference play, GVSU is in a tie for third place in the GLIAC with Saturday's opponent, Michigan Tech. Both teams sit one game behind Ashland and Findlay (both 9-2) for second place in the league, while Ferris State leads the standings with an 11-0 record. Overall, Grand Valley State is 14-8 this season.
 
Last weekend in Allendale, the Lakers had a mixed bag of results. On Friday night, GVSU dominated Hillsdale (7-2 in the GLIAC entering the match) in a 3-0 sweep, as the Lakers hit .317 and totaled 50 kills to just 11 hitting errors. Looking for the weekend sweep, Grand Valley State was unable to knock off Findlay (8-2 league record coming into the contest), falling in five sets, which included a 15-12 final set score.
 
Despite the loss to Findlay, GVSU hit .304 with 72 kills and recorded 16 total blocks, which the team had not done since the end of the 2013 season. The Lakers had some impressive offensive performances last weekend, as senior Jessica Majerle totaled 27 kills and hit .348 and .351, respectively, against Hillsdale and Findlay. Majerle has surpassed double-digit kills in each of her last five matches, the second-longest streak of any Laker this season.
 
Fellow senior Betsy Ronda provided 21 kills against Findlay, while adding nine kills and a .421 mark against the Chargers. Middle blocker Kaleigh Lound notched 15 kills and eight blocks in the two matches, while freshman Staci Brower delivered 16 kills and 12 blocks, nine of which came against Findlay on Saturday.
 
Brower is fourth in the league in points per set (3.8), total blocks (82), and solo rejections (21), while her 1.04 blocks per set are the fifth-best average. She is also eighth in the league in kills per set (3.01) and ninth with 61 block assists. Fellow first-year player - senior libero Taylor Shomin - has 376 digs (fifth-most in the league), while her 4.64 digs per set is sixth-highest.
 
Ronda moved into fifth place in GVSU career history over the weekend, as she collected 41 digs in the two contests. That puts her career total to 1,338 digs and moved her past Laker greats Megan Helsen (1,297 digs from 2003-06) and Jodi Sprick (1,303 from 1992-94).
 
GVSU is 3-3 on the road this season, with wins at Malone, Walsh, and Lake Erie. The Lakers have lost two of their last three road contests - at #4 Ferris State on Sept. 29 and at Ashland on Oct. 10. Both of those matches were 3-1 decisions.
 
Northern Michigan sits in a three-way tie for ninth place in the GLIAC standings with a 5-6 league record. The Wildcats, however, are 16-7 overall this season. After starting 10-2, NMU lost four consecutive matches to Ashland, Michigan Tech, Hillsdale, and Findlay. From there, the Wildcats rallied to win their next two GLIAC contests and all three matches at the Crossover Tournament. They split a road trip to Ohio Dominican (3-2 loss) and Tiffin (3-0 win) last weekend. NMU is 7-4 at home.
 
Michigan Tech had an even better start to the season, beginning the 2015 campaign with a perfect 10-0 record. In fact, the Huskies only dropped two sets total in those first 10 matches. MTU lost four of its next six contests (all of which - win or lose - were 3-0 decisions) and went 1-2 at the Crossover Tournament, including a tough 3-2 loss to Lewis, one of the GLVC's top teams. Last weekend, the Huskies won a pair of 3-1 road matches at Tiffin and Ohio Dominican. MTU owns a 5-1 record at home and has won three straight in Houghton.
 
After this weekend's road trip, GVSU has a quick turnaround. The Lakers will host #1 Ferris State next Tuesday night (Nov. 3) in Allendale for a huge rivalry matchup against the Bulldogs. Later in the week, Grand Valley State will take on Northwood and Lake Superior State (Nov. 6-7) also inside the Fieldhouse Arena.