The Grand Valley State volleyball team finished their opening day 0-2 in the Oredigger Classic. After dropping a close match to University of Sioux Falls, the Lakers fell to Southwest Missouri State University in three sets.

This was head coach Jason Johnson's first match leading the Lakers. 

"Obviously not the results we were looking for but I cannot be upset with their ability to fight through two tough matches today," said Johnson. "I think we had a difficult time managing the first match jitters, anxiousness, and excitement, but after getting down 2-0 they stayed the course and fought back to force a fifth set."

The Lakers fell to USF in five close sets. After losing the first two sets by scores of 23-25, GVSU was able to pull out the next two, winning 25-22 and 25-20. They fell short in the fifth set with a score of 15-12. Grand Valley led the match with a kill percentage of .241 and tied USF (.235) with 65 kills a piece.

Senior Abby Graham led the Lakers with 16 kills and 19 digs, followed by senior Ali Thompson and junior Sarah Wight with 14 kills a piece. Junior Jaelianna Primus also chipped in nine kills and five blocks and junior Rachel Jacquay led the team with 52 assists. 

In their second match of the day against SMSU, the Lakers struggled to pull away from the Mustangs. The Lakers took the momentum into set three, but SMSU rallied back winning the set 25-27. The Mustangs held the advantage in kills (50-46) and kill percentage (.293-.238). The Lakers led the way defensively with 10 blocks and finished with 53 digs. 

Abby Graham was the kill leader again with 17 kills, followed by Ali Thompson with 12 kills and Jaelianna Primus with eight kills. Sarah Wight finished with six blocks and Erin O'leary tallied 17 digs. 

"This evening we learned about the type of focus and intensity it takes to compete against a very good Southwest Minnesota State team," said Johnson. "While we didn't open well in the first set, I thought we played hard but just couldn't play clean enough in sets two and three. While we have a lot of players that have played together, we have some key individuals playing in new positions this year and it will take a little time for them to figure it out. I am looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what our team learned and how they can come back to compete against two more very good teams."

Tomorrow, the Lakers will face the Colorado School of Mines at 1:30 p.m. and Colorado Mesa University at 6:30 p.m.