BIG RAPIDS, MICH. – The Grand Valley women's volleyball team's GLIAC Tournament Championship match comeback attempt fell just short, as they fell in five sets to Ferris State. This was the third straight game the Lakers battled back to force a winner-take-all fifth set, after beating Davenport in the quarterfinals and NMU in the semifinals, but this time they could not pull it out in the final set.
 
"I am so proud of the effort, grit, and resiliency this group showed throughout the tournament. Three straight five set matches and just came up two points short today," said head coach Jason Johnson. "The fight they had to will themselves into that fifth set after trailing 0-2 is something we will keep building on as we go forward. I was excited for the impact that our seniors were able to make throughout the tournament, and they kept pushing and pulling their teammates along this journey."
 
After the two teams traded points to open set one, FSU took control with a 6-0 run to go up 13-6, and they never let up, winning the first set 25-16. GV went up 5-3 early in set two before the Bulldogs bounced back and took an 11-9 lead. Grand Valley responded and retook the lead at 20-17, but Ferris got back into it and ended with an 8-3 run to win set two 25-23. Set three was a battle as it was back and forth before FSU took a 14-9 lead after a 5-0 run, but Grand Valley had a run of their own, going on a 7-0 run to retake the lead at 18-16. From there they held on to win 25-20. Set four was all GVSU, as they got out to a 10-3 and never let Ferris get any traction in the set as they went on to win 25-17 to force a set five. In set five, GVSU held a slim 8-6 lead when the two teams flipped benches, but Ferris responded and went on a 14-11 lead and match points. Grand Valley wasn't done though, as they survived four straight match points and forced one of their own, but Ferris was too much as they scored the final three points of the match to win 19-17.
 
For the third straight tournament game, Jordyn Gates collected a triple-double, as today she went for a career-high 25 kills, along with 25 assists, and a career-high 23 digs. Kendall Stover had 13 kills and seven digs, Mattie McCabe had 10 kills, while Savannah Thompson had eight kills and 27 digs. Rachel Jacquay passed out 34 assists and Julia Blaney had 26 digs.
 
After the match, the GLIAC announced the all-tournament team and two Lakers were selected as part of the team, with Jordyn Gates and Mattie McCabe earning the honors. In the three games, Gates had 63 kills, 70 assists, 63 digs, and 10 blocks, while McCabe had 18 kills and seven blocks.