vs. Ashland (Friday, Oct. 19) - 7:00 PM
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vs. Wayne State (Saturday, Oct. 20) - 4:00 PM
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The Grand Valley State volleyball team will finally be back on their home floor for the first time since Sept. 29 as they host Ashland and Wayne State in their second to last homestand of the season. GVSU will take on the Eagles tonight (Oct. 19) at 7:00 PM inside GVSU Fieldhouse Arena before a 4:00 PM showdown with the Warriors tomorrow afternoon (Oct. 20). 
 
GVSU will be wearing pink uniforms for their annual Dig Pink Night in support of breast cancer awareness month and the first 250 students will receive a free pink GVSU hat. 
 
The Lakers enter the weekend with a 12-10 overall record and a 5-6 record in the GLIAC to sit in seventh place overall. Ashland is currently in control of the south division with an 18-5 overall record and a 9-2 conference record while the Warriors sport an even 11-11 overall mark and a 6-5 conference record to sit one spot ahead of GVSU. 
 
This year's GLIAC Tournament first round will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 7 while the two following rounds will take place on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 9-10). The top three teams from both the north and the south conferences automatically qualify for the postseason tournament with the next two best records, regardless of division, filling out the final two spots. As it stands now, Ferris State, Michigan Tech, and Saginaw Valley State would qualify from the north while Ashland, Davenport, and Wayne State would qualify from the south. The Lakers are next up with a 5-6 conference record while Northern Michigan, Northwood, and Wisconsin-Parkside all battling for the final spot at 3-8 records. 
 
GVSU is coming off of a rough three-match stretch at the 2018 Midwest Region Crossover last weekend (Oct. 12-13) where they lost their three matches to Tiffin, Illinois-Springfield, and Bellarmine. After a couple of 3-0 matches on the first day, the Lakers fell in a hard-fought battle to Bellarmine, 3-2. 
 
Senior middle blocker Staci Brower has continued her efficient offensive play. She currently leads the league with a .358 attack percentage which has pushed the Lakers overall attack percentage to fifth best in the conference at .206. Her 253 kills and 3.20 kills per set also leads the Laker squad which has tallied 999 kills this season (12.65 per set). Fellow senior Hannah Murdock has been a large part of the GVSU attack this season as well, tallying 192 kills and 2.49 kills per set. Freshman Ali Thompson (163) and Abby Graham (138) have also added their fair share of offensive production as has senior Jillian Butsavich (118). 
 
Defensively, the Lakers rank third in the league with 17.73 digs per set and are led by junior libero Kendall Yerkes, who ranks fifth in the conference with 4.63 per set. Thompson and Graham have also been big defensively for GVSU, ranking second and third on the team with 269 and 206 digs, respectively. At the net, Brower also leads the squad with 64 blocks (.81 per set) and is followed by Butsavich with 51 and setter Ashlyn Kartes with 32.
 
Ashland, who was also at the crossover tournament last weekend, is 2-2 in their last four matches, falling to Ferris State and Illinois-Springfield before bouncing back to take down McKendree and Hillsdale. Earlier this season, the Eagles were able to take down the Lakers, 3-0, on their home court, which was the second match of a seven-match winning streak for them. 
 
The Eagles rank first and second in the league in kills (1,219) and kills per set (13.70), respectively and are led in that area by junior Shelby Woycik (287, 2.45 per set), freshman Erin Krupar (275, 3.09 per set), and junior Sophi Cudworth (242, 2.72 per set). Woycik ranks third in the conference in both of those categories, while Reanne Neal is hitting .315 to also rank third in the conference. Providing those kill chances is freshman Zoey Peck, who has tallied 980 assists and 11.01 assists per set which is second in the league. 
 
Defensively, the Eagles also rank second in the conference in blocking with 193 total blocks and 2.16 blocks per set as a team. Leading that front in Neal with 90 total blocks while Michaela Ping is second with 87 total rejections. On the back line, senior libero Kaitlin Bean has a healthy lead in total digs with 412. 
 
The Warriors of Wayne State come into this weekend in a very similar spot to the Lakers. With an overall record of 11-11 and a conference record of 6-5 the Warriors will face a tough Davenport team on Friday before their matchup with the Lakers. Most recently, WSU also dropped all three matches at the crossover tournament by identical scores of 3-0. 
 
Additionally, the Warriors rank just behind the Lakers on the conference stat leaderboard in both kills (994) and kills per set (12.65). Senior outside hitter Hailey Richardson has nearly two and a half times more kills than the next highest Warrior, as she ranks second in the conference in both total kills (327) and kills per set (4.19). Madelyn Krenz is second on the squad with 143 kills while Olivia Fike is third with 142. Setter Kamryn Duffield has tallied 783 assists and 10.17 assists so far this season as well. 
 
Defensively, Ellie Rodriguez leads the Warriors with 367 digs while Richardson has racked up 261 and Haley Tenelshof has picked up 202. At the net, Grace Frazee has tallied 69 total blocks to lead the Warriors and is followed by Fike with 57 and Krenz with 49.