INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – The Grand Valley women's volleyball team wrapped up the UIndy Invite this afternoon by taking on two Minnesota schools. The Lakers split the pair of games, falling 3-1 at the hands of Minnesota Duluth, before bouncing back to sweep Minnesota State-Mankato.
 
In the first game of the day, the Lakers took on nationally ranked Minnesota-Duluth. GVSU battled hard, but fell in four sets 20-25, 19-25, 25-16, and 18-25. The Bulldogs raced out to an 11-4 lead in the first set before Grand Valley battled back to cut the lead to 19-17. The two teams traded points for a few serves, but Duluth had a late 4-1 run and was able to close out the set. The second set featured both teams again trading points for most of the game, before another late Bulldog run allowed them to take a two sets to none lead. The Lakers bounced back in the third set, falling behind early, but coming back to tie it at 13. From there it was all Grand Valley, ending the game on a 12-3 run, capped off by kills from Kendall Stover and Jaelianna Primus to give GV the third set. In the final set of the match, the Bulldogs used a mid game 7-1 run to take control of the game and went on the win the set and the match.
 
Kendall Stover led the Laker offense, tallying 11 kills, while also adding nine digs. Savannah Thompson and Sarah Wight both recorded nine kills, with Wight hitting at a .375 clip. Rachel Jacquay was the main setter, passing out 21 assists.
 
Grand Valley was able to rebound in their second match of the day, coming back to sweep Minnesota State-Mankato 25-22, 25-18, 25-22. The first set was back and forth throughout but kills from Jordyn Gates and Jaelianna Primus gave GV the first set win. The second set started out even between the two teams, but the Lakes took control late thanks to a 10-5 run to close out the set. The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead in the third set, but the Lakers clawed back in the game, taking advantage of errors by Mankato to get the lead and hold on for the sweep.
 
Stover again had a good game, notching 14 kills on a .455 hitting percentage. Gates had 10 kills to go along with her 16 assists. Jacquay was the top setter again, again recording 21 assists.
 
"I was really pleased with the growth and effort of our team today. I felt our team fought hard against Minnesota Duluth, but we just couldn't get control of the match against a physical, disciplined team," head coach Jason Johnson said. "Then our team had to turn around three hours later and take on a young but very physical Minnesota State-Mankato team. They are a much more talented team then their 1-7 record. I thought our offense was the key to the win, as they couldn't find a way to slow us down."
 
Up Next
The Lakers start GLIAC play next weekend with a trip to the Upper Peninsula to take on Northern Michigan on Friday and Michigan Tech on Saturday.