Grand Valley State celebrated its annual Senior Day in style, as the Lakers led wire-to-wire and earned an easy 3-0 sweep over visiting Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7) in Allendale. GVSU notched its 11th sweep of the year by straight scores of 25-15, 25-15, and 25-11.

In addition to the Lakers' five-set victory over Northwood on Friday night, Grand Valley State improves to 18-9 overall and 12-4 in conference play. GVSU also clinched a spot in the GLIAC Tournament with the win. Lake Superior State drops to 0-23 on the year and 0-16 in GLIAC action.

Offensively, GVSU was terrific, posting a team hitting percentage of .351 and recording 40 kills and just seven errors. It is the team's highest hitting percentage since accumulating a .387 figure on Nov. 9, 2013 - also at home and also against Lake Superior State. Grand Valley State also held a 7-0 edge in service aces and a 7-1 in total blocks. 

LSSU never led in the match and was held to a .084 attack clip and just 26 kills against 18 hitting errors. Saturday's match was a stark contrast from Friday night's five-setter against Northwood, where the teams were tied 21 times and there were 12 lead changes. GVSU and LSSU were tied just once in Saturday's match, with zero lead changes.

The seven Laker seniors were honored prior to the match and all six healthy players contributed in a positive light during the contest. 33 of the 40 GVSU kills on Saturday came from the senior class. Outside hitter Betsy Ronda led all players with 12 kills, a .524 hitting percentage, eight digs, and three service aces. Middle hitter Audrey Kidd provided a career-high eight kills, while hitting .389, and added two digs and a block.

Outside hitter Kourtney Wolters tallied seven digs, six kills, and a block, while Kaleigh Lound added four kills and a match-high four blocks. Libero Taylor Shomin supplied nine digs, five assists, and two aces, while outside hitter Jessica Majerle secured three kills in just seven swings.

Saturday's victory was the 101st win for the senior class, improving to 101-27 over the past four years. The Laker seniors are 59-11 in GLIAC play during their careers.

GVSU raced out to a 9-2 advantage in the opening set with aces from sophomore Katie Olson and Ronda and a pair of kills from Kidd. The lead grew to 15-8 after consecutive kills from Lound and Ronda, but LSSU closed the gap to 16-13 moments later. From there, Grand Valley State notched five straight points on kills from Wolters and Ronda and a pair of service aces from Shomin. It was 24-15 when Kidd put down her fourth kill of the set to clinch the first set win. The home Lakers hit .371 in the opening frame, as Kidd and Ronda each tallied four kills.

In set two, Grand Valley State scored the first five points, with Lound notching a kill and Ronda serving up back-to-back aces. The advantage was 10-5 after consecutive kills from Wolters and freshman Shannon Winicki. Later in the set, Lound and Winicki teamed for a pair of blocks in a three-point stretch, the last of which made the score 14-6. Ronda added three more kils and Kidd secured a pair of putaways to finish off the frame at 25-15 for the second straight set.

A quick 4-0 lead in set three grew to 9-3 in the early with GVSU using kills from Lound, Ronda, Kidd, and Majerle to jump ahead. Grand Valley State's advantage was 14-7 when the home Lakers scores six consecutive points to take complete control. Ronda notched two kills, freshman Jillian Butsavich added a kill, Olson served an ace, and Lound tallied a solo rejection to push the lead to 20-7. GVSU would close the set and match just a few points later, hitting .364 (13 kills, one error) in the set.

Olson recorded 18 assists, 11 digs, and a pair of service aces, while freshman Taylor Stewart tabbed nine assists, six digs, and two kills in as many attempts. Winicki provided four blocks (one solo) and two kills in only two sets.

Grand Valley State will head out on the road to close its regular season schedule. The Lakers travel to take on Saginaw Valley State next Friday night (Nov. 13) before finishing the regular season on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 14) at Wayne State.