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#17 Grand Valley State pulled out wins in two thrilling sets to start Friday night's (Nov. 7) match against Saginaw Valley State and then closed out the Cardinals in set three for a solid 3-0 victory inside the Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers reached the 20-win plateau with set victories of 25-23, 30-28, and 25-17.

It was another strong win for GVSU, who picked up its 15th sweep of the year. The Lakers move to 20-4 overall and 16-1 in conference play, staying in a tie for first place in the league standings with Ferris State. SVSU entered Friday night with a six-match win streak, but drops to 16-9 with the loss. The Cardinals are 12-5 in league action and currently sit in fifth place in the GLIAC.

The GVSU defense was outstanding on Friday night - while Saginaw Valley State was equally impressive on that side of the court. Grand Valley State picked up 76 digs in only three sets, a very high total, while SVSU eclipsed that by recording 87 digs. Senior libero Christina Canepa, second all-time in Laker history in digs, notched 21 pickups, again an impressive number for a three-set contest. Seniors Kaitlyn Wolters and Abby Aiken totaled 16 and 15 digs, respectively.

Grand Valley State also notched a 9-4 edge in blocks, as both junior Kaleigh Lound and freshman Sydney Doby tallied four rejections. While the defense was superb, the offense was solid too. Nine of the 10 Lakers that played put down at least one kill and GVSU's .160 hitting percentage would have certainly been higher if not for the Cardinals' great defense.

After the first set was tied at 9-9, Saginaw Valley State appeared to start pulling away. The Cardinals moved out to a 16-11 lead before GVSU began to chip away at the deficit. Eventually, Grand Valley State evened things up at 22-22 on a Doby kill. She added another kill two points later to again tie the score at 23-23. Aiken then took a pass from Canepa and deposited it for a kill before Doby and Aiken teamed up for a set-ending block.

SVSU got off to a great start in set two, leading 5-2 and pushing out to a 12-5 advantage. The Lakers responded with Lound putting down three kills in a four-point span. After a kill from Wolters, the score was 13-11, but the Cardinals received three consecutive kills from Makenzie Frodle to lead 16-11.

Saginaw Valley State was serving for set point at 24-21, but Lound came up with a clutch kill. Following that, Doby teamed with Wolters and then Betsy Ronda for back-to-back combined blocks, knotting the score at 24-24. The Cardinals regained the advantage at 25-24 and served for set point again before Wolters put down a pass from Canepa to tie the score once more.

The Lakers then had three separate attempts to serve for set point and couldn't finish off the pesky Cardinals. However, at 28-28, senior Kourtney Wolters put away a kill on a pass from sister Kaitlyn to give GVSU the 29-28 lead. SVSU's McKenzie Schuster attacked on the next point, but Aiken recorded a tremendous solo block, ending the terrific set at 30-28.

On Sept. 13 in University Center - in just the second GLIAC contest of the year - the Cardinals won the first two sets before GVSU won the final three stanzas to steal the five-set victory. Grand Valley State made sure the opposite did not happen on Friday night, scoring the first five points in set three and opening an 8-1 lead.

Aiken's strong serving helped the Lakers race out to the early lead and GVSU appeared to be cruising to the win. Saginaw Valley State had other ideas, creeping back to within a point at 17-16. Senior Ally Simmons notched a kill and then served the next six points - which included a pair of aces and two combined blocks by Lound and Kourtney Wolters - to push the Lakers out to a 24-17 advantage. Moments later, an Aiken kill finished the set and match.

GVSU's 46 kills were spread around nine players, as Ronda's nine kills led the way. She added 10 digs, as well. Lound and Kaitlyn Wolters both contributed eight kills, while Wolters hit .667 (zero errors in 12 attempts) and dished out 32 assists. Aiken provided seven kills, while Doby put down five kills and no errors in 16 attempts.

The Lakers close out the regular season at home on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 8). GVSU will face Wayne State in a 2:00 p.m. start. It is also the team's annual Senior Day celebration, as the six seniors - Aiken, Canepa, Clair Ruhenkamp, Simmons, and the Wolters' sisters - will be honored prior to the match.