BIG RAPIDS, MICH. - The GVSU women's volleyball team advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship game for the third straight season, earning a spot with a thrilling five-set win over Northern Michigan. The Lakers will face top-seeded Ferris State Sunday afternoon for the tournament title. 

The Lakers took the match by the scores of 25-21, 24-26, 20-25, 25-16, and 16-14. Set one was a battle for the majority of the game. Neither team could establish momentum, keeping the score close. With it tied at 19 each, the Lakers were able to go on a 6-2 run to close out the set and go up 1-0.

Set two was very similar to the first, with both teams exchanging short scoring runs. The largest lead for either team was GVSU's three-point advantage at 22-19 late in the set. Unfortunately, they could not hold the lead, as the Wildcats stormed back to take a 24-23 lead. GVSU tied it at 24, but couldn't get another point, as NMU tied the match at one. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in set three and never let the Lakers get closer than two points the rest of the way, going up 2-1 in the match.

GVSU got out to an early lead of their own in the fourth set, racing out to a 9-4 advantage. The Wildcats battled back to within two points at 9-7, but couldn't get any closer, with the Lakers going on a 10-2 run to take control at 19-9. They closed it out from there, forcing a winner-take-all fifth set.

In the fifth set, GVSU got up 8-4 as the two teams switched sides of the court. The Wildcats bounced back to go up 10-9 and eventually led 13-11. The Lakers answered back with a 5-1 run to clinch the match and punch their ticket to the Championship game. 

Kendall Stover led the team with both 16 kills and 22 digs, while Brianna Stawski added 13 kills and three solo blocks. Meghan O'Sullivan and Kennedy Arp both had 10 kills, with O'Sullivan recording 27 assists and 18 digs and Arp had 5.5 blocks, including four solo. Jordyn Gates tallied 23 assists and 15 digs, while Julia Blaney had 19 digs and McKenzie Johnson had 11 digs. The Lakers had 13 total blocks, with eight of them being solo.

The Lakers will take on Ferris State tomorrow at 3:00 up in Big Rapids. Sunday's game will be available to stream on FloSports. The game will also have live stats as well to follow along with. For full coverage of the game, including live in-game updates, follow @GVSUVOLLEY on Twitter and visit gvsulakers.com.