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The Grand Valley State volleyball team heads on the road for the NCAA Midwest Region Tournament for the first time in three seasons, as the Lakers will open up NCAA postseason play on Thursday (Dec. 3) against #20 Lewis in Big Rapids, Mich. GVSU, the defending Midwest Region champions, has played in each of the last two regional championship matches.

In Thursday's second quarterfinal match, GVSU will face off with #20 Lewis at 2:30 p.m. Grand Valley State (20-11 overall record) is the region's #6 seed, while Lewis (30-4) is the #3 seed in the Midwest Region. The Lakers are one of five GLIAC schools out of the eight competing teams in the regional tournament, being hosted at top seed Ferris State.

Here is the tournament schedule for the 2015 Midwest Region Tournament in Big Rapids, Mich.:

Thursday, Dec. 3

Match 1 - 12:00 p.m.: #2 Rockhurst (31-3) vs. #7 Saginaw Valley State (22-8)

Match 2 - 2:30 p.m.: #3 Lewis (30-4) vs. #6 Grand Valley State (20-11)

Match 3 - 5:00 p.m.: #1 Ferris State (31-2) vs. #8 Trevecca Nazarene (20-11)

Match 4 - 7:30 p.m.: #4 Findlay (25-8) vs. #5 Hillsdale (23-7)

Friday, Dec. 4

Match 5 - 5:00 p.m.: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner

Match 6 - 7:30 p.m.: Match 1 Winner vs Match 2 Winner

Saturday, Dec. 5

5:00 p.m.: Championship Match

GVSU and Lewis met at the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament in mid-October, with the Flyers outlasting Grand Valley State for a tough 3-2 victory. The teams alternated wins throughout the five sets, with four of the five sets being decided by less than four points, including Lewis' 15-11 fifth set victory. That match took over two hours to play, including 29 tie scores. Grand Valley State led the fifth set by a 10-8 score before the Flyers scored seven of the final eight points to capture the win.

In the midseason meeting, GVSU held slight advantages in hitting percentage (.229 to .225) and aces (7-5), while Lews was a tad better in kills (61-56), assists (59-53), digs (69-68), and blocks (8-6). Senior Kaleigh Lound hit .500 and posted 16 kills with just three errors and classmate Jessica Majerle added a dozen kills. 

Heading into Thursday's match, the Lakers are looking to defend their 2014 Midwest Region championship. Last year in Allendale as the region's #3 seed, Grand Valley State swept Missouri S&T, Ferris State, and Rockhurst before advancing to the NCAA Final Four with another 3-0 sweep over Wingate at the national tournament. 

Last year's regional championship was the ninth in school history, all coming since 2000. Grand Valley State has won the Midwest Region title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2014. The Lakers own a 37-15 all-time record in NCAA postseason play, while this year's senior class is 6-3 in the previous three NCAA Tournaments.

Grand Valley State is 25-13 all-time against Lewis, as the series against the in-region Flyers began in 1984. The teams have played three times in the NCAA Tournament, with GVSU winning all three contests.

In 2006 at the tournament hosted by Hillsdale, the Lakers won the regional quarterfinal by taking sets one, two, and four to defeat the Flyers by a 3-1 score (30-22, 30-18, 30-32, 30-28). GVSU fell in the regional semifinals by a 3-2 score to SIU-Edwardsville.

The teams met again in 2007, this time on the Lakers' home court in Allendale. Grand Valley State had swept Charleston in the opening round before topping SIU-Edwardsville in four sets in a rematch of the previous year's regional semifinals. In the 2007 championship match, GVSU rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to win the wild contest by a 3-2 score (26-30, 28-30, 30-23, 30-24, 15-5) and claim the school's sixth regional title. 

In 2010, Grand Valley State and Lewis faced off again in Hillsdale, with the Lakers earning another 3-1 victory and taking wins in the first, third, and fourth sets. The line score of the regional semifinal was 25-20, 14-25, 25-17, and 25-15. The next night, GVSU earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Indianapolis to win the eighth Midwest Region championship in program history.

Grand Valley State owns a tremendous 29-7 all-time record in Midwest Region Tournament play, with all but three of those matches coming since 2000. When the Lakers are on the road in the regional tournament, GVSU is 7-4 all-time.