Live Stats (same link for both GVSU matches)

Friday (Sept. 18) - vs. Wayne State, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday (Sept. 19) - vs. Saginaw Valley State, 4:00 p.m.

After a pair of season-opening tournaments, #18 Grand Valley State begins conference play at home this weekend against two formidable league opponents. The Lakers will host Wayne State on Friday night (Sept. 18) at 7:00 p.m. before facing unbeaten Saginaw Valley State on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 19).
 
It is the opening weekend of GLIAC play for all conference teams. After four matches at both the GVSU Laker Riverfront Classic and the Augustana Showcase, Grand Valley State is 4-4 on the season. After a weekend trip to Sioux Falls, SD, the Lakers return to Fieldhouse Arena, where they won three of four matches on Sept. 4-5, including three straight sweeps to close the opening tournament.
 
After being swept in its first five matches of the year, Wayne State has won three consecutive contests to enter the weekend with a 3-5 record. Saginaw Valley State owns an unblemished 8-0 record after back-to-back 4-0 weekends at the Ferris State Invitational and the Vulcan Invitational in California, Pa. The Cardinals are receiving votes in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll.

These teams will meet again, but not until the end of the season. The Lakers will travel to Saginaw Valley State on Friday, Nov. 13 and play at Wayne State on Saturday, Nov. 14 in the GLIAC regular season finale.
 
GVSU, the back-to-back GLIAC regular season champions, looks to get off to a good start this weekend at home. The Lakers went 1-3 at the Augustana Showcase, playing quality competition in Sioux Falls; the four opponents Grand Valley State played entered the tournament with a 14-2 record. After the weekend, two of GVSU's opponents - Northern State (#22) and Augustana (#25) - entered the AVCA national rankings.
 
Returning to Allendale is usually a good thing for the Lakers. Including this year's 3-1 start at home, Grand Valley State is 44-8 over the past three-plus seasons inside the Fieldhouse Arena, good for an .846 winning percentage. GVSU has also been dominant inside league play during the same three-year span, posting a 47-7 record in GLIAC play since the 2012 season.
 
Senior Kaleigh Lound has been one of the league's top blockers throughout her career and this season has been no different. Lound's 1.32 blocks per set is the second-highest figure in the GLIAC, while she also ranks second in assisted blocks (31), third in total blocks (37) and sixth in solo rejections (six).
 
A pair of Laker newcomers - freshman Staci Brower and senior Taylor Shomin, a former GVSU club volleyball player - ranks fifth in the league in separate categories. Brower's 3.46 kills per set are fifth-most in the conference, while Shomin's 4.57 digs per set are the fifth-highest figure.
 
Brower, a middle hitter, has recorded 90 kills, the eighth-best mark in the league, while her 21 blocks and 0.81 blocks per set are 15th in the GLIAC. In addition to her dig average, Shomin is fifth in the league with 12 service aces. She has picked up 128 digs, sixth-most of any GLIAC player.
 
Freshman setter Taylor Stewart has handed out 212 assists for a 7.57 per set average, which rank eighth and 10th, respectively, in the conference.
 
After the home weekend, Grand Valley State will travel to Ohio next weekend for a pair of league matches. The Lakers will face Malone next Friday night (Sept. 25) and Walsh on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 26).