The Grand Valley State volleyball team took down Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 14) in their final match of the 2017 Midwest Region Crossover. The Lakers won the match by a 3-1 margin by scores of 27-25, 19-25, 25-21, and 25-19. The victory pushes the Lakers to 10-10 overall while their conference record remains 5-4. GVSU will return to Allendale after a weekend that saw them go 2-1, with their lone loss coming against #1 Lewis. The Lakers also took down Illinois Springfield in their opening match of the weekend.
 
GVSU used a strong .316 attack percentage to propel them in the victory, as three different Lakers hit of .390, while holding Indianapolis to a .295 clip. Surprisingly, the Greyhounds led the Lakers in most other stats, including kills (63-55), assists (56-48), digs (57-56), but the Lakers tallied more team blocks (6-4) as well as aces (9-7).
 
Offensively, junior Staci Brower led the way for the Lakers. The middle blocker posted a match-high 16 kills to go along with a .500 hitting percentage. Brower also contributed a solo block and an assisted block on the defensive side as well. Senior Sydney Doby was second on the team in kills, as she racked up 13 on the match to go along with her .391 hitting percentage. Doby also collected two solo rejections and assisted on two more as well. Sophomore right-side hitter Jayci Suseland collected 12 kills of her own while also sporting a .435 hitting percentage.
 
Supplying a majority of the kills today was senior Katie Olson, as the setter accounted for 33 of the Lakers 48 total assists. Olson also collected seven digs and a kill. Junior Kaylene Norris led the Lakers in digs, as the defensive specialist scooped up 16 on the match, while also collecting six aces along the way.
 
The Lakers cruised out to an early 5-2 lead over the Greyhounds in the first set but a 5-2 run by Indianapolis knotted the match up a 7-all. The teams then traded points to a 9-9 tie before a four-point run by the Lakers opened up a 13-9 lead and forced Indy to burn a timeout. GVSU maintained their lead after the stoppage to hold a 21-16 advantage but the Greyhounds would then score four straight points of their own to trim the lead to just one at 21-20. The teams would then tie at points 22, 24, and 25 before a kill from Brower and an ace from Hannah Murdock would secure the 27-25 first set victory for the Lakers.
 
GVSU got in a hole early in set two, as they Greyhounds opened up a 10-5 lead on the Lakers. After the Lakers trailed 12-6, a Suseland kill sparked a five-point rally, which included an additional kill from the junior as well as three aces from Norris to shrink the Indy lead to 12-11. At the 16-15 mark however, Indy would go on to score nine of the final 13 points for the 25-19 victory in set two.
 
The third set was extremely competitive, as there would be thirteen different points at which the teams were tied. Neither team would lead by more than two points the entire set until a four-point run by the Lakers gave them the lead after being down 19-18. The Lakers used back-to-back-to-back kills from Suseland, Murdock, and Brower that was topped off with another Norris ace to take the 22-19 lead. GVSU would then score three of the last five points for the 25-21 third set victory.
 
The fourth set was also very close early on until the Lakers managed to rattle off four straight points after an 11-11 tie to take a 15-11 lead. The run opened with two straight kills from Doby, followed by a kill from Murdock, and once again capped off with an ace form Norris. Indy burned a timeout to stop the barrage, but the Lakers had already opened up all of lead they would need. Indy wouldn't get within two points of the Lakers the rest of the set and GVSU walked away with the 25-19 victory in the set and the 3-1 victory in the match.
 
After spending the last few weeks away from Allendale, the Lakers will return to the friendly confines of GVSU Fieldhouse Arena for a pair of matches next weekend (Oct. 20-21). GVSU will take on Lake Superior State at 7:00 pm on Friday before a 4:00 pm matchup against Saginaw Valley State on Saturday.