After a pair of tough contests at the Augustana Showcase on Friday (Sept. 11), the #8 GVSU volleyball team bounced back with a solid 3-0 victory (25-16, 25-22, 25-20) over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday (Sept. 12). The Lakers dropped two matches to undefeated teams a day earlier, but earned their first win at the tournament in Sioux Falls, SD.
 
With the victory, Grand Valley State improves to 4-3, while Minnesota Crookston drops to 3-4. The combined record of GVSU's four opponents entering the Augustana Showcase was 14-2, including a pair of undefeated teams on Friday in Northern State and Minnesota State Moorhead.
 
The Lakers fell to Northern State in a sweep and lost a heartbreaker to Minnesota State Moorhead last night, with the Dragons winning the fifth set by a 16-14 score. On Saturday morning, however, GVSU got back on track.
 
Grand Valley State hit .223 with 40 kills, while forcing Minnesota Crookston into 23 attack errors and a .135 hitting clip. The Lakers also committed just 13 attack errors.
 
Freshman Staci Brower had a terrific performance, notching a match-best 14 kills (in only 22 attacks) for a .500 hitting percentage. The rookie middle blocker also nabbed three blocks, while senior Kaleigh Lound rejected five shots, two of them of the solo variety.
 
A pair of outside hitters - senior Betsy Ronda and freshman Brooke Smith - each totaled eight kills, while senior Taylor Shomin picked up 10 digs and served three of the team's four aces. Sophomore Katie Olson provided 17 assists and seven digs, while freshman Taylor Stewart supplied 15 assists and five digs.
 
GVSU scored six of the first seven points of the match, including a pair of Shomin aces and a kill from Brower. The lead grew to 13-4 on a solo rejection from Lound and pushed out 19-9 after a Jessica Majerle kill. A pair of kills from Jillian Butsavich and Ronda finished the frame at 25-16.
 
After trailing early in set two, the Lakers began a comeback and knotted the score at 12-12. GVSU took a 16-12 advantage with a Brower kill and a combined block between Brower and Olson. The Lakers held the lead throughout the set and with the score at 23-22, Lound put down a kill and Majerle and Brower combined for a set-ending rejection.
 
Set three saw 11 ties and was back and forth between the two teams. The final tie was at 17-17, but kills from Majerle and Smith upped the score to 21-19, which was quickly followed an ace from Shomin. Leading 22-19, the last three GVSU points were all tallied by Brower - two kills on assists from Olson and match-ending solo block to preserve the victory.
 
The Lakers close the weekend with a 5:00 p.m. contest against the host school, Augustana, as the Vikings enter the match with a 6-1 record.