The Grand Valley State volleyball team didn't get off the to start they were hoping for entering the 2017 season, as the Lakers fell to the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State, 3-1. GVSU got off to a solid start after taking the first set 25-20 before dropping the next three sets by scores of 22-25, 22-25, and 20-25.
 
This was only the second meeting between the Lakers and Bearcats, the first taking place back in 1999, with Northwest Missouri knotting the series up at 1-1 after the Lakers won the other lone match by a 3-1 margin.
 
Despite the loss, the Lakers held the advantage in kills (53-51), assists (48-45), but the Bearcats held the advantage in digs (76-75), blocks (8-4), and aces (4-2). GVSU held NW Missouri to a .147 hitting percentage while hitting .155 themselves.
 
In her first game as a Laker, transfer Hannah Murdock tallied a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs in the match. Senior Katie Olson led the team in digs with 18, while sophomore Jayci Suseland tallied a team-high 20 kills in the match.
 
The first set was a back and forth affair, with the teams trading points until the Lakers were able to rattle off seven straight to take a 16-9 lead. GVSU then went on to take a 23-15 lead after three straight points courtesy of a Staci Brower kill, an attack error by the Bearcats, and a kill from Suseland, forcing NW Missouri to take a timeout.
 
Out of the stoppage, NW Missouri scored four straight points to make it 23-19 before another Suseland kill and a handling error by the Bearcats gave the Lakers the first set victory.
 
The second set, much like the first, was back and forth and tied 9-9 before the Lakers were able to slightly pull away to a 16-12 lead. The Bearcats were able to tie the score at 18-18 after a Laker error and a kill from Maddy Bruder. The teams then traded points to make the match 22-22. NW Missouri then took advantage of some errors by the Lakers to score the final four points of the set and tie the match 1-1.
 
In the third set, the Bearcats jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before the Lakers tied the set at 6-6 after scoring four straight off of two kills from Suseland, a Bearcat error, and a kill from Murdock. Once again the teams traded points back and forth with neither team owning larger than a two-point lead. At the 20-20 points, NW Missouri put together another late run and scored six of the final ten points for a 25-22 victory and a 2-1 lead.
 
The Lakers came out strong in the fourth set, taking a 19-13 lead before the Bearcats mounted their last comeback to score 12 of the frame's last 13 points.
 
GVSU will look to improve to 1-1 this afternoon as they are slated to play Upper Iowa in the second match of the invitational. Once again, there will be no live stats or video, so check back with gvsulakers.com for updates.