Grand Valley State opened play at the ninth annual Midwest Region Crossover Tournament on Friday afternoon (Oct. 14) by winning the first set against Drury, but the Panthers bounced back to take the final three sets and win the match, 3-1. The Lakers dropped the four-set contest, 25-19, 19-25, 8-25, 18-25.
 
GVSU entered the 36-team tournament as the #5 seed from the GLIAC, while Drury was the sixth seed from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). It was both team's first matches at this year's competition and each team's lone contest on Friday.
 
Drury moves to 13-6 on the season with the victory, while Grand Valley State falls to 10-7.
 
The Lakers return to action on Saturday with a pair of contests. At 11:00 a.m. ET, GVSU takes on second-seeded McKendree before closing the weekend with a 5:00 p.m. ET match with ninth-seed Indianapolis.
 
Despite a strong opening frame - including a .359 hitting percentage and 19 kills - the Lakers were unable to maintain that production against Drury in the final three sets. The Panthers hit .284 in the match, the highest an opponent has hit against GVSU this season. Drury also owned a 54-45 edge in kills and a slim 48-45 advantage in assists.
 
Both teams had five blocks apiece, while Drury led in digs (70-66) and aces (5-3).
 
Freshman Jayci Suseland posted 13 kills and sophomore Brooke Smith notched a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. She was one of four Lakers to reach double figures in digs, led by freshman Sydney Benchley's 20 pickups.
 
Junior setter Katie Olson provided 30 assists and 13 digs, while freshman Kendall Yerkes picked up a dozen digs and four kills.
 
GVSU led 8-5 after back-to-back kills from Smith, but a Laker service error made it 8-6. From there, Grand Valley State rattled off eight consecutive points to open up a big 16-6 cushion. Suseland put down three kills in the 8-0 run, while Olson served an ace, and Smith finished the surge with a kill. Drury chipped away at the deficit and pulled within four points on a few occasions. The Lakers took the 1-0 lead in the match behind consecutive kills from Suseland and sophomore Staci Brower to end the set, 25-19.
 
Set two was tied nine times and although GVSU trailed 15-11, the Lakers scored five straight points behind Brower's serving and a pair of kills from Smith. Junior Sydney Doby also teamed with sophomore Jillian Butsavich for a combined block prior to Brower's ace that put Grand Valley State on top, 16-15. The Panthers responded by scoring six of the next seven points and leading 22-18. After a Suseland kill made it 22-19, Drury scored the final three points to win the set and even the match.
 
The Panthers carried that momentum into set three. Yerkes notched a kill on a long point to bring GVSU within three points at 7-4, but Drury took control from there. DU scored four consecutive points to start a set-changing 11-2 run and eventually hit .355 (12 kills, one error) in the set, winning by a 25-8 score.
 
Grand Valley State scored an early 5-0 run in set three to take a 6-3 advantage. Back-to-back errors from Brower and Smith were followed by a Panther error, keeping the Lakers in front 11-8. The teams would trade points until Drury eventually pulled ahead at 17-14. GVSU could get no closer than two points the rest of the set, as Drury notched the final four points to complete the four-set victory.
 
Brower totaled seven kills and a pair of blocks. Butsavich (three kills) and Doby also recorded a pair of blocks, while redshirt freshman Madilyn Killer added two kills. Sophomore Taylor Stewart passed for seven assists off the bench.