Less than an hour after defeating Adelphi in a five-set marathon, Grand Valley State responded by sweeping Davis & Elkins to cap off a 2-0 opening day at the Vulcan Invitational in California, Pa. It took the Lakers only 58 minutes on Friday (Sept. 9) to earn the 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-15, 25-19) and even their season record at 3-3.
 
GVSU's 3-2 win over Adelphi earlier on Friday afternoon finished in just under two hours and included a back-and-forth 32-30 third set. The team's second match on Friday lasted only half as long and saw the Lakers dominate on the offensive side of the statsheet.
 
A pair of Laker youngsters - sophomore Staci Brower and freshman Jayci Suseland - continued their strong opening day. Each player posted season-highs of 17 kills against Adelphi. In the sweep of Davis & Elkins (1-5 overall), Brower - the reigning GLIAC Freshman of the Year - slammed 15 kills with one error in 22 swings for an outstanding .636 hitting percentage. Suseland followed with a .421 attack clip, totaling 11 kills in just 19 attempts.
 
In total, the Lakers recorded a 40-23 edge in kills, a 37-23 advantage in assists, and hit .275 as a team, compared to the Senators' .056 clip. GVSU also owned leads in aces (7-3), digs (44-31), and blocks (7-6). Brower totaled five block assists, while four other Lakers contributed two blocks each.
 
Back-to-back kills from sophomore Brooke Smith and Brower midway through the first set made the score 16-11 in GVSU's favor. After a Laker service error put the set at 16-12, Grand Valley State would score the final nine points to win 25-12. Freshman Kendall Yerkes started the 9-0 run with a kill, followed by a combined block by Brower and junior Katie Olson. Brower then posted back-to-back-to-back kills before senior Amanda Glaza served an ace. Junior Taylor Stewart followed with an ace and Brower and Yerkes closed the nine-point surge with a combined rejection.
 
GVSU hit a stellar .345 as a team in the opening set, but would improve to a .379 figure in set two. A five-point run brought the Lakers from a 4-3 disadvantage to an 8-4 lead, as Glaza served four points in the run and posted another ace. Brower and Olson each recorded kills and another Brower-Yerkes block occurred during the run. GVSU would stay in front at 17-15 before again closing out the frame with eight consecutive points. In the 8-0 run, Brower put down a pair of kills, Smith added a kill, and Yerkes delivered an ace as she served on the final seven Laker points.
 
The third set was the most competitive, as there were eight tie scores and seven lead changes. Davis & Elkins owned a 16-13 advantage midway through the stanza before the Lakers again closed out the frame on a strong note. Yerkes began a 7-0 run with a kill and classmate Sydney Benchley served up a pair of aces. Brower then teamed with sophomore Danielle McCormick for a block, prompting a Senator timeout at 19-16. The Laker lead would be up to 20-16 before three straight points from Davis & Elkins. Grand Valley State would respond with the final five points of the match on two Brower kills, a Yerkes kill, and a combined rejection from Brower and Olson to end the contest and complete the sweep.
 
Olson dished out 35 assists and added five digs to go with two blocks. Yerkes picked up a match-high 13 digs, while notching six kills, two blocks, and two aces. Benchley (10 digs) and Glaza (six digs) each served a pair of aces, while Smith totaled eight digs and five kills.
 
The Lakers' season-high .275 hitting percentage against Davis & Elkins was barely better than the team's .274 mark in the five-set win over Adelphi earlier on Friday.
 
Grand Valley State is back in action on Saturday (Sept. 10). The Lakers face the host school California (PA) at 10:00 a.m. before a 1:00 p.m. match with Winston-Salem State. Those schools entered this weekend's tournament with a combined 6-1 record.