ALLENDALE, MICH. – The Grand Valley State women's volleyball team is set to open the 2025 campaign, with four games out in Colorado at the Colorado Mines Tournament. GVSU will play Valdosta State and Colorado Christian on Friday, then take on South Dakota Mines and Colorado School of Mines on Saturday to wrap up the opening weekend of action.
 
Tournament Central
Valdosta State: Live Stats | Video | Friday | 4:00 pm EST
Colorado Christian: Live Stats | Video | Friday | 8:00 pm EST
S.D. Mines: Live Stats | Video | Saturday | 2:00 pm EST
Colorado Mines: Live Stats | Video | Saturday | 6:00 pm EST
 
GVSU is coming off their best season in over a decade, going 28-4 overall, finishing second in the GLIAC, and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Four seniors are gone from that team, but there is still plenty of talent returning for head coach Jason Johnson.
 
Four All-GLIAC selections are back in Allendale this fall, led by First-Team outside hitter Kendall Stover. Stover paced the Lakers with 272 kills, while adding 326 digs, and 56 blocks. Second-Team selections Paige Sanders and Meghan O'Sullivan, along with honorable mention selection Brianna Stawski will also return for GVSU. Stawski (126), Sanders (123), and O'Sullivan (87) were the Lakers top three blockers a season ago, with all adding over 200 kills as well. Five newcomers join the squad, with four freshmen and one transfer entering the fold. The Lakers were selected first in the GLIAC preseason poll and earned the 14^th spot nationally in the AVCA poll.
 
In the season opener, the Lakers will take on Valdosta State for the first ever matchup between the two schools. The Blazers went 19-12 a season ago, falling in the first round of their conference tournament to end the year. They lost their top three attackers, as well as their top setter, and the team leader in digs. Valdosta State returns three players who appeared in 30 or more matches last year, and added two impact transfers, including former Northeast-10 Player of the Year Macy Brown. The 19 wins last season marks the most wins during head coach Kayleigh Zoucha's seven seasons at the helm of the Blazers.
 
For the second game on Friday, GVSU will face off against Colorado Christian at 8:00 eastern. The Cougars were 19-11 in 2024, making the NCAA Tournament as the eight seed in the South Central region, but falling in the first round to Angelo State. CCU was selected third in the RMAC preseason poll, earning three second place votes and seven third place votes. Returning RMAC Second-Team selection Renee Phillips was a part of the RMAC preseason list, and is the Cougar's leading returner in kills, points, blocks, and hitting percentage. This will be the second all-time meeting between the Lakers and Cougars, with GVSU taking the first one in a sweep back in 2023.
 
The opening game on Saturday will be against South Dakota Mines, another school the Lakers have never matched up with. Coming off an 18-9 year a season ago, the Hardrockers were picked fourth in the RMAC preseason poll. They lost their top two attackers, along with their setter, but return outside hitter Ivy Vindivich, an RMAC Honorable Mention All-Conference selection, along with libero Hannah Benes, who led the team with 500 digs and was named an All-Region selection and the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Head coach Lauren Prochazka was named the RMAC Coach of the Year after leading the Hardrockers to their most successful season since they have been a Division II institution.
 
Rounding out the opening weekend will be a matchup with the host of the tournament, Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers tallied a 9-17 record in 2024, but return all but two of their rotation players from a season ago. Two setters with over 270 assists are back to direct the offense, along with three attackers who tallied over 100 kills. Defensively, three back row players with over 150 digs, as well as Jenna McLaughlin, who led the team with 77 blocks. The Lakers have not matched up with the Orediggers since 2021, when Mines took down GVSU in five sets.
 
All games are available to follow along with via live stats or live stream. The stream is behind a paywall on the RMAC Network.