The best offensive performance by a Grand Valley State team in nearly three years led the Lakers to a strong 3-1 victory on Saturday morning (Oct. 15) at the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Ill. GVSU posted a season-high .434 hitting percentage to top McKendree, 25-20, 25-22, 25-27, 25-12.
 
With the win, the Lakers (the #5 seed out of the GLIAC) improve to 11-7 on the season. McKendree, the GLVC's #2 seed, drops to 13-7 overall.
 
GVSU closes out the ninth annual Crossover Tournament with a 5:00 p.m. ET match against Indianapolis.
 
The Laker offense was the story of Saturday's victory. GVSU totaled 70 kills and only 11 errors for a .434 hitting percentage, the highest mark since posting a .449 attack clip against Findlay on Oct. 19, 2013. Grand Valley State's 70 kills are the most putaways in a four-set match since Sept. 7, 2013, when the Lakers notched 71 kills against Eckerd.
 
A big contributor to that kill total was freshman Jayci Suseland, as the right side hitter recorded 27 kills against only five errors for a .468 attack percentage. The kills for Suseland are a new career-high and the most by a Laker since Abby Aiken tallied 27 kills against Missouri St. Louis on Oct. 26, 2013 - which was also a 3-1 GVSU victory at the Crossover Tournament.
 
The last time a Grand Valley State player has put down more than Suseland's 27 kills was back on Oct. 11, 2005, when Tracy Kirk produced 31 kills in a 3-2 home victory over #20 Ferris State.
 
Two other Laker sophomores reached double-digits in kills on Saturday. Outside hitter Brooke Smith posted 11 kills, zero errors, and a .423 hitting percentage, while also adding 10 digs for a double-double. Middle blocker Staci Brower supplied 10 kills in 18 swings with a .444 attack clip and notched three blocks, two of which were solo rejections.
 
Sophomore Jillian Butsavich added seven kills without an error in 13 attempts for a .538 hitting percentage, while tabbing two blocks. Junior Sydney Doby also put down seven kills in 13 attacks and hit .385 in the win. Doby notched two solo blocks and three rejections total.
 
GVSU owned a large 70-50 edge in kills and a similar 66-47 advantage in assists. The Lakers also led in digs (61-46) and blocks (7-2), while McKendree held a 6-3 advantage in service aces.
 
Set one was close throughout until the Lakers began to pull away after a 16-16 tie score. Smith notched a kill, followed by a combined Butsavich-Suseland block. Another Smith kill made it 19-16 in GVSU's favor. McKendree would call a timeout and get back to within 19-18 before Suseland put away back-to-back kills and Butsavich added one of her own. Leading 22-19, Suseland and junior setter Katie Olson tallied kills and Suseland supplied her 11th kill of the set to end the frame, 25-20. GVSU recorded 22 kills and just one error for a .583 hitting percentage in the opening set.
 
It was 5-4 in set two when the Lakers used a 7-1 run to open up a 12-5 cushion. Doby and sophomore Taylor Stewart each posted kills during the run, which was aided by some McKendree errors. Grand Valley State would use kills from Butsavich, Smith, and freshman Kendall Yerkes to keep the lead at 23-18. McKendree pulled within two points at 24-22, but Yerkes finished the frame with a kill on a Stewart assist.
 
The third set was tied 15 times and featured 11 lead changes. GVSU took a 23-22 lead on consecutive kills from Brower and Smith before McKendree responded with back-to-back points. The Lakers fought off set point and a Butsavich kill tied the score again at 25-25. However, the Bearcats finished the set with a kill and a Laker error to win, 27-25.
 
Suseland opened set four with back-to-back kills and Olson served an ace for the first three points of the frame. Leading 7-5, the Lakers rattled off the next six points, with Doby providing a kill and a solo block and Brower served an ace after a McKendree timeout. The set was still close at 17-11 before Brower put down consecutive kills and McKendree committed a hitting error to push the lead to 20-11. After a GVSU error, the Lakers scored the final five points, with Doby contributing a kill, a solo block, and teaming with Brower on another rejection. The match ended on sophomore Kaylene Norris' service ace, giving the Lakers the 25-12 win.
 
Olson recorded a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs, while Stewart handed out 22 assists and seven digs to go with two kills. Freshman libero Sydney Benchley picked up 13 digs and passed for four assists, while Yerkes added a team-high 14 digs and five kills.
 
The match was tied 25 times and there were 11 lead changes in the contest.