The Grand Valley State volleyball team capped off their dominant showing at the 2018 Cavalier Classic with a couple of wins over Pitt-Johnstown (3-0) and Virginia Union (3-1) to go 4-0 at the two-day tournament. GVSU took down Bloomsburg (3-0) and Walsh (3-1) on the first day of action and dropped just two sets all weekend long. The Lakers will return to Allendale with a 7-1 overall record, having fallen to just nationally-ranked Tampa so far this season. GVSU will take their 7-1 record into GLIAC action next weekend, as they open conference play on the road against Wayne State (Sept. 7) and Ashland (Sept. 8). 
 
The Lakers were picked to finish second in the GLIAC South Division in the preseason coaches poll earlier this year. 
 
vs. Pitt-Johnstown (W, 3-0: 25-16, 25-21, 25-19)
 
The Lakers opened up an early 5-2 lead over the Mountain Cats in set one thanks to a three-point run that featured a kill from Staci Brower, a Kaylene Norris ace, and a block by Brower and Ashlyn Kartes. Pitt-Johnstown quickly answered however, and the teams were all knotted up at seven. Jillian Butsavich would put down a kill to go up 8-7 which was the beginning of a six-point run for the Lakers as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead and forced a UPJ timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mountain Cats would cut the lead to four, 14-9, but a string of three points from GVSU would push their lead back to nine, 19-10. Following the Mountain Cats final timeout of the set, GVSU would go on a 6-4 run to secure the first set, 25-16, and go up 1-0 in the match. 
 
Much like they did all weekend, the Lakers kept their momentum rolling into the second set, jumping out to a quick 10-4 lead over UPJ. The Mountain Cats countered with a scoring barrage of their won, using an 8-2 run to tie the match at 12-all. The Lakers scored the next two points thanks to a Hannah Murdock kill and an attack error by the Mountain Cats, which they would hold a majority of the rest of the set. After going up 21-17, UPJ made another push against the Lakers and cut the lead to just one, 21-20, and forced the Lakers to take a timeout. Out of the break, GVSU used back-to-back-to-back kills from Ali Thompson, Butsavich, and Abby Graham to go up four, 24-20, before a final kill from Graham two points later would give GVSU the 25-21 second set victory. 
 
In the third set, the Lakers carved out an early 5-2 lead before the teams would trade points back and forth throughout the middle of the set. GVSU got a little more breathing room after a three-point run to go up 16-9 and eventually 20-12. The Mountain Cats wouldn't be tamed that easily however, and they rattled off five straight points to force the Lakers to use a timeout as their lead was cut to just three, 20-17. Out of the break, the Lakers held their composure and outscored UPJ 5-2 over the next seven points to win the third and final set 25-19 and take the match 3-0. 
 
Brower tallied a match-high 11 kills while hitting .364 to lead the Lakers offensively. Thompson also added eight kills, while Graham and Murdock each talied seven as well. The Laker attackers were efficient in the match, hitting at a .309 clip while the Laker defense held UPJ to just a .084 mark. Brower also chipped in five blocks, while Graham and Kartes added two apiece as well. 
 
vs. Virginia Union (W, 3-1: 25-23, 25-13, 21-25, 25-11)
 
The Lakers momentum carried over into the nightcap, as they scored five of the first six points to go up 5-1 early over Virginia Union. Following back to back points by the Panthers, the Lakers went on another five-point run that was ended with a Panther kill but followed by three more points for GVSU to go up 12-5. The Lakers kept the pressure on the Panthers, eventually going up 19-9 before the Panthers started their comeback. Seven of the next nine points scored were in favor of Virginia Union, as they cut the lead to three, 21-18. A few points later, the lead was just one, 23-22, but GVSU managed to score two of the next three to take the close 25-23 victory. 
 
The Lakers dominated the second set, winning by 12 points in the end. In the beginning however, the Panthers managed to snag an early lead, 7-4, thanks to a four-point run after a 4-3 lead by GVSU. The Lakers answered with six straight points however, and would score five of the next seven after that to open up a large 15-9 lead. GVSU stayed on the gas the rest of the way, eventually winning the set 25-13. 
 
The third set opened with a three-point Laker run that was followed by a four-point Panther run to give them the 4-3 lead. Five straight from the Lakers would flip the script and give GVSU the 8-4 advantage however. The teams then traded points back and forth until Virginia Union broke through with a five-point run of their own to take the 13-11 lead, one which they would not surrender the rest of the way. The Lakers stayed in it until the end though, and came back to tie the set at 21-all but the Panthers managed to rattle off the final five points to hand GVSU just their second loss in a set all weekend. 
 
The Lakers would take set four in dominating fashion following the third set loss, winning by 14 points in the end, 25-11. Murdock exploded for a match-high 18 kills in the contest, tallying just three errors, and an impressive .500 hitting percentage in 30 swings. Brower posted another solid match, picking up another 11 kills, while Thompson wasn't far behind with 10 of her own. Making those kills possible was Kartes, who tallied a match-high 40 assists to go along with two aces. Libero Kendall Yerkes dug up 15 balls in the match while Thompson added 15 of her own as well. 
 
Again, the Lakers will be back in action next weekend as they are slated to travel to Wayne State on Friday and Ashland on Saturday.