#8 Grand Valley State nearly knocked off undefeated Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday night (Sept. 11), but the Dragons were able to stave off match point in a tense fifth set to hang on for a wild 3-2 victory. In GVSU's second match at the Augustana Showcase in Sioux Falls, SD on Friday, the Lakers nearly gave Minnesota State Moorhead its first loss of the year, but fell by scores of 25-22, 31-33, 21-25, 27-25, and 14-16.

Three of the match's five sets went to extra points, including a back-and-forth second set that ended with a 33-31 Dragon win. In total on Friday night, GVSU and Minnesota State Moorhead were tied 45 times in the match, while there were also 20 lead changes. MSU-Moorhead stays unbeaten with a 6-0 mark, while the Lakers drop to 3-3. Both of Grand Valley State's opponents on Friday (including Northern State, who improved to 5-0 with a win over the Lakers) were undefeated entering the tournament.

Similar to the match and the individual set scores, the team statistics were very even. Minnesota State Moorhead held slight edges in kills (77-76), assists (72-69), digs (97-90), total blocks (13-11), and aces (5-2). The Lakers did own a better hitting percentage (.236 to .222) and tallied fewer attack errors (26) than did the Dragons (31).

Four GVSU players reached double-digits in kills, led by freshman Staci Brower's 18 putaways. Brower also notched a team-best six blocks (two solo). Senior Kaleigh Lound added 16 kills, hit. 382, and nabbed four rejections, while freshman Brooke Smith supplied a double-double of 18 digs and 14 kills. Smith committed just one hitting error for a .325 hitting percentage. Senior Jessica Majerle was also in double figures with 11 kills, a new career-high for the outside hitter.

The Lakers picked up their highest dig total (90) of the season, with senior Taylor Shomin nabbing a match-best 25 pickups. In addition to Smith's 18 digs, senior Betsy Ronda added 17 digs (to go with nine kills and four blocks), freshman Taylor Stewart collected 12, and sophomore Katie Olson tallied 11. GVSU's two setters, Stewart handed out 37 assists, while Olson delivered 23 helpers and three kills in three attempts.

Grand Valley State and the Dragons were tied 11 times in the opening set, including points 18, 19, and 21. Smith provided a kill for a brief 22-21 Laker lead before MSU-Moorhead tied the score at 22-22. Following that point, Brower notched back-to-back kills and a Dragon ball-handling error gave GVSU the 25-22 win. Brower (five) and Majerle (four) combined for nine kills in the opening frame.

Minnesota State Moorhead notched a terrific comeback in set two, battling from a 21-14 deficit to actually take a 24-23 lead thanks to a wild 10-2 surge. The teams would be tied at points 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31 before the Dragons nabbed a kill and a block to steal the second frame and tie the match.

Set three was tied at 17-17, but a 5-1 MSU-Moorhead run opened up a 22-18 advantage. The Dragons would move ahead 2-1 in the match just a few points later, winning 25-21.

In set four, Minnesota State Moorhead was serving for match point with a 24-23 lead. Lound and Brower put down back-to-back kills to bring GVSU back in front, 25-24. The Dragons would briefly tie the score at 25-25, but kills from Smith and Brower gave the Lakers the set victory and forced the fifth frame.

Grand Valley State's 5-1 run in the middle of the fifth set put the Lakers ahead, 9-7. The lead stayed at 10-8 and three straight points pushed GVSU to a 13-9 advantage after a Smith kill. Minnesota State Moorhead's service error made the score 14-11 in the Lakers' favor, but the Dragons improbably scored the final five points of the match, using a kill to steal the marathon contest.

The Lakers will get back to action on Saturday (Sept. 12). GVSU will take on Minnesota Crookston at 11:00 a.m. before finishing off the weekend tournament against the host school, Augustana, at 5:00 p.m.