#21 Grand Valley State used a balanced attack of strong offense and defense in a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-10, 25-16) at Lake Erie on Friday night (Oct. 9). The Lakers won their third straight match by notching 36 kills and a .265 attack clip, but also held Lake Erie to a -.026 hitting percentage in the sweep.

The win is GVSU's ninth 3-0 sweep of the season, putting the Lakers to 7-1 in GLIAC play and 11-5 overall. Grand Valley State has swept five of its eight conference opponents. Lake Erie drops to 5-9 on the year and 1-7 in league action. On Saturday (Oct. 10), the Lakers have a tough test against Ashland (6-2 GLIAC record) in a 2:00 p.m. showdown.

Defensively, Grand Valley State recorded a 60-47 edge in digs and a 9-4 advantage in total blocks. While the Lakers have notched double-digit rejections four times this season, the seven solo blocks are a season-best. GVSU has not tallied more than seven solo blocks in a match since Dec. 6, 2013, when the Lakers had nine solo rejections in a 3-1 Midwest Region semifinal victory over Ashland.

While GVSU held Lake Erie to just 23 kills in three sets on Friday, two Lakers combined for nearly the entire Storm total. Freshman Staci Brower secured 11 kills in only 18 attacks, not committing an error, and hitting .611 on the night. She posted two of GVSU's seven solo blocks. Senior Betsy Ronda added nine kills in 20 attempts and picked up 10 digs in the contest, as well. Ronda was only topped by fellow senior Taylor Shomin (match-high 19 digs) and freshman Brooke Smith (11 pickups).

The Lakers turned a 3-3 tie in the opening set to a 9-3 advantage with an early 6-0 surge. Brower, Smith, and freshman setter Taylor Stewart all notched kills during the run, as the score grew to 14-6 after a Kaleigh Lound kill. After Lound and Stewart combined for a block, Stewart served up an ace, as GVSU jumped ahead 16-7. Late in the set, Stewart dished an assist to Ronda and teamed with sophomore Sydney Doby for a set-ending rejection. Lake Erie hit -.060 (eight kills, 11 errors) in the first frame.

Set two went in GVSU's favor quickly, as the Lakers took a 5-4 lead and extended out to an 18-6 cushion thanks to a 13-2 run. Ronda supplied two kills and a solo block during the spurt, while Brower and Doby also notched solo rejections. Grand Valley State hit .409 in the set, posting 10 kills and only one error, as the stanza culminated in a kill from senior Kourtney Wolters. Again, Lake Erie hit negative during the frame with a -.097 attack clip.

Another big Laker run was more than enough to close out the match. After trailing 6-4, GVSU rattled off an 18-3 run to take a 22-9 advantage and essentially put the match out of reach. Brower nabbed four kills and a service ace during the run, while Ronda and freshman Jillian Butsavich each added three kills, as well. A late kill from senior Audrey Kidd and a solo block from Wolters closed out the scoring.

Stewart provided 31 assists, her fifth match with at least 30 assists. She added seven digs, two block assists, two kills, and an ace. It was Brower's 12th contest with double-digit kills, as no other player had more than nine kills in the match.

15 different Lakers saw action in Friday night's win. It was the fourth time this season that the Grand Valley State defense forced its opponent into a negative hitting percentage.