Grand Valley State fell on the road at Saginaw Valley State on Friday night (Nov. 4), dropping a 3-0 decision to the Cardinals. The Lakers lost by straight set scores of 15-25, 20-25, and 19-25 to SVSU in University Center, Mich.

The loss was GVSU's third straight defeat, putting the team's record 13-12 overall and 7-7 in GLIAC play. Saginaw Valley State improves to 17-8 on the year and 10-4 in conference action. Heading into the contest, SVSU was slated seventh in the inaugural NCAA Midwest Region rankings released this week, while the Lakers were eighth.

GVSU looks to snap its three-match skid at Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. start from Sault Ste. Marie.

With a .239 hitting percentage and 44 kills, Saginaw Valley State was strong offensively and held the Lakers to a .158 clip and 35 putaways. SVSU led in assists (42-33) and digs (59-50) and held slight edges in blocks (6-5) and aces (2-1).

Freshman Jayci Suseland led all players with a match-high 14 kills, while hitting .273 in the contest. It was the 17th time this season that the rookie has posted double-digits in kills. Sophomore Staci Brower added six kills and a pair of solo blocks, while classmate Jillian Butsavich took 10 swings and put down five kills without an error for a .500 hitting percentage. Butsavich also supplied a pair of blocks.

The teams traded points early in the first frame, with GVSU tying the score at 10-10 after a Suseland kill and consecutive SVSU hitting errors. After an 11-11 tie score, the Cardinals scored eight of the next 10 points to open a 19-13 cushion. Saginaw Valley State would rattle off six of the final eight points to take the first frame, 25-15.

Five straight points by SVSU turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 lead early in set two. The Lakers tallied back-to-back-to-back kills from sophomore Shannon Winicki, senior libero Amanda Glaza, and freshman Kendall Yerkes to make the score 11-7. Trailing 12-7, Winicki posted consecutive kills and pulled the Lakers within 12-9. The Cardinals answered with an 8-3 run to open up the set. GVSU tried to mount a comeback and put down consecutive kills from Suseland and junior Sydney Doby with a Yerkes-Doby combined block shortly after, making the score 21-15. A Doby ace and kill kept the Lakers close at 23-20, but SVSU tallied a pair of kills to take the second set.

After a pair of Suseland kills, Brower notched back-to-back kills earlier in set three, followed by consecutive kills from Yerkes and sophomore Brooke Smith to give GVSU a 7-6 edge. Saginaw Valley State ran off a 9-3 surge to move ahead 15-10 before Suseland put away two kills in a row. Brower totaled a kill and a solo rejection to keep it close at 16-14, however a 6-2 Cardinal run made the score 22-16. The teams would trade points until SVSU closed out the match with a 25-19 third set victory.

Glaza and Smith led the team with nine digs apiece, while Yerkes added eight digs, three kills, and two blocks. Junior Katie Olson delivered 17 assists and seven digs, while sophomore Taylor Stewart passed for 12 assists and eight digs.

After the LSSU contest on Saturday, Grand Valley State returns home to take on Northwood and Hillsdale next weekend (Nov. 11-12) to close the regular season.