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The #7 Grand Valley State volleyball team fell in its first outing of the 2015 campaign, as GVSU dropped a 3-1 decision (21-25, 25-13, 21-25, 17-25) to visiting Concordia-Portland on Friday afternoon. It was the opening match for Grand Valley State in the GVSU Laker Riverfront Classic inside the Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale.
 
GVSU, off a 27-6 record in 2014 and an NCAA Final Berth, used 14 different players in the contest, as the Lakers are still looking to set a lineup. Grand Valley State is battling through some injuries, while 10 of the 19 players on the GVSU roster had never played for the Lakers before today's match. Concordia-Portland, however, was playing its first-ever match as a full-fledged Division II school after making the transition from NAIA.
 
The Cavaliers move to 1-0 on the season, while Grand Valley State is 0-1. At 7:00 p.m. on Friday night, the Lakers will face Carson-Newman before playing two matches on Saturday.
 
Both teams posted interesting statlines, although neither team hit very well; Concordia-Portland notched a .129 hitting percentage with 49 kills, while GVSU hit .101 with 36 putaways. The Cavaliers picked up 95 digs in the four sets, but Grand Valley State recorded 10 total blocks and 11 service aces.
 
Concordia-Portland raced to a 7-1 lead in the opening set before GVSU battled back and took a 10-8 advantage, most of the run occurring during the serving of freshman Taylor Stewart. Trailing 13-11, the Cavaliers posted a 12-6 run to regain a 23-17 cushion. They would close out the Lakers a few points later.
 
In set two, Grand Valley State trailed 5-2, but used strong serving from sophomore Katie Olson and senior Taylor Shomin to take full control of the frame. Shomin, a former club volleyball player at GVSU, served up three aces in a four-point stretch, the last of which put the Lakers on top, 18-7. The GVSU defense was stout in set two, holding Concordia-Portland to a -.081 attack clip.
 
The Cavaliers led for nearly all of set three, taking a 19-13 advantage after consecutive points in the middle of the frame. At that point, senior Betsy Ronda put down her 1,000th career kill to make the score 19-14. That kill puts Ronda into exclusive category, as just the eighth Laker in school history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs, joining former teammate Abby Aiken, who accomplished the feat last season.
 
Down 19-14, freshman Kaylene Norris entered the match and served up back-to-back-to-back aces, bringing the Lakers within two points in the set. Concordia-Portland counterpunched with three consecutive points of its own and used a Laker attack error moments later to win, 25-21.
 
Set four saw the Cavaliers open an 11-5 lead and hold a similar advantage for the rest of the frame. Concordia-Portland hit .211 in the fourth set, its best figure of the match.
 
Senior Kaleigh Lound paced the Laker offense with eight kills, while adding four total blocks (one solo). Freshman Staci Brower also added four blocks and put down seven kills in her first match at GVSU. Both senior Kourtney Wolters and redshirt freshman Shannon Winicki added six kills.
 
Stewart totaled 18 assists, eight digs, and two aces, while Olson notched a double-double with 15 assists and 11 digs. Shomin's 26 digs were a team-high, as Wolters added 13 digs and four blocks (two solo rejections).
 
The Lakers are back in action on Friday night inside the Fieldhouse Arena against Carson-Newman at 7:00 p.m.