Friday (Sept. 25) - at Malone, 7:00 p.m.
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Saturday (Sept. 26) - at Walsh, 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats
 
The Grand Valley State volleyball team heads back out on the road this weekend, as the #21 Lakers visit Canton, Ohio for its first road GLIAC contests of the year. GVSU will take on Malone on Friday night (Sept. 25) at 7:00 p.m. before facing Walsh at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 26).
 
After one weekend of conference play, six teams are 2-0, with GVSU being one of those six teams. Last weekend at home, the Lakers swept Wayne State on Friday night before knocking off Saginaw Valley State in four sets on Saturday. SVSU had entered last weekend with a perfect 8-0 record before falling to Ferris State and the Lakers.
 
Grand Valley State is now 6-4 overall on the season and ranked #21 in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll. Traveling on the road has generally been a good thing for the Lakers over the past few seasons. Including the team's only true road match this season (a 3-1 loss to current #22 Augustana), GVSU is 24-6 in road contests since the start of the 2012 season. That includes 8-1 road records in each of the last two years.
 
Last weekend against Wayne State and SVSU, the Laker offense was very strong. Five GVSU players tallied at least 13 kills and the team owned a .241 hitting percentage, compared to a .107 opponents attack mark. Senior Betsy Ronda played very well, tying for the team-high with 21 kills and adding 26 digs with consecutive double-doubles. Fellow senior Jessica Majerle also put down 21 kills, while freshman Staci Brower supplied 20 kills and a team-best 12 total blocks.
 
As a team, GVSU is averaging 2.43 blocks per set, which is the second-best mark in the league, while also picking up 18.03 digs per set, the third-highest figure of any team. On the other side of the ball, the Laker offense is recording 13.09 kills per set and 12.31 assists per set, third and fourth in the GLIAC, respectively.
 
Senior Kaleigh Lound ranks third in the conference in both blocks per set (1.22) and block assists (33), while tallying the fourth-most total rejections (39). Libero Taylor Shomin ranks fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively in digs per set (4.51), total digs (158), and service aces (13).
 
Despite being a true freshman, Brower looks far from a rookie. Her 3.33 kills per set are the fourth-most of any player in the league, while also placing ninth in blocks per set (1.00) and 11th in total blocks (33), total kills (110), and hitting percentage (.318). Classmate Taylor Stewart is 10th in the conference in both assists (250) and assists per set (7.14).

Friday's opponent - Malone - owns a 4-7 overall record, an 0-2 league mark, and has been up and down thus far. The Pioneers have not won more than one match in a row, but have also not lost more than two contests consecutively. Last weekend, Malone fell at home to Ohio Dominican (3-0) and Tiffin (3-1). The four victories for the Pioneers have come over Urbana, Concord, St. Francis, and Cedarville.
 
Walsh, the Lakers' Saturday opponent is off to a 4-6 start and - like Malone - is 0-2 in GLIAC play. The Cavaliers started 4-4 before dropping matches to Tiffin (3-1) and Ohio Dominican (3-0) at home last weekend. After stopping a three-match losing streak with back-to-back sweeps over Ohio Valley and St. Joseph's, Walsh is just 1-3, including both conference losses.
 
The Lakers are 3-0 all-time against both Malone and Walsh, having played both Ohio schools every year since 2012. Both teams took a set from GVSU in 2012 before falling by 3-1 scores, but the 2013 and 2014 meetings were all 3-0 Laker victories. This weekend's match-ups are the only scheduled regular season meetings between the schools.
 
After this weekend, Grand Valley State will travel to Big Rapids next Tuesday night (Sept. 29) for a 7:00 p.m. battle with West Michigan rival Ferris State. The Lakers and Bulldogs met seven times over the past two seasons, including postseason meetings in the NCAA Tournament both years.