HOUGHTON, Mich.- The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team capped off the first weekend of the season during the second day of the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic in Houghton, Mich. The Lakers dropped the first match of the day to No. 16 ranked St. Cloud State by a score of 3-0 and fell to Minnesota State by a 4-1 final.
Against the St. Cloud State Huskies, Lake Superior State lost by scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-16. The Lakers went down two sets to none against Minnesota State (25-20, 25-18) before taking the third set by a 25-17 score. The Mavericks took the match in the fourth set, by a 25-23 score.
Lakers vs. No. 16 St. Cloud State
Set One: The Lakers and Huskies matched up evenly in the opening set as the teams were tied at 14-14 before St. Cloud pulled ahead with a lead. The Huskies built a 24-17 lead over the Lakers. LSSU rallied with three straight points but St. Cloud took the set by a 25-20 margin.
Set Two: After trailing 7-3, the Lakers would score four of the set's next five points (8-7). Lake Superior State earned four consecutive points to even the score at 12-12. The Huskies answered by registering nine of the next 10 points and would go on to win the set, 25-15.
Set Three: The Lakers built a 7-4 lead over the Huskies in the opening stages of the third set. St. Cloud would erase the Lakers lead as the set was deadlocked at 11. Lake Superior held a one-point lead (15-14) over the Huskies but the No. 16 team sealed the match win with a 25-16 victory.
Stat Leaders: Sophomore Emilee McDaniel, who recorded six kills for the Lakers yesterday, led the team with six kills against the Huskies. Senior Bethany Wilson and junior Ally Gruber followed with five kills each. Halle Grulke registered 19 assists for the Lakers, as she reached 1,200 career assists at Lake Superior State.
Defensively, the Lakers were led by sophomore libero Emily Hagelthorn who recorded 13 of the team's 44 digs in the match. Grulke ranked second in digs with 12.
Lakers vs. Minnesota-State
Set One: The Lakers had a solid start to the final match of the weekend against a Mavericks team that received votes in the preseason national poll. LSSU trailed by a pair of points (11-9) through the first 20 points but the Mavericks would hold the advantage in the match with a 25-20 opening set win.
Set Two: Lake State led for the first half of the second set, holding a 14-11 advantage over the Mavericks. Minnesota State's offense would tally nine straight points to build a 20-14 lead. The Lakers were unable to come back and dropped the second set, 25-18.
Set Three: The Lakers forced the Mavericks to a fourth set responding with a 25-17 win in the third set. Lake State built an 11-6 lead over Minnesota State before the Mavericks evened the score at 11. After a smart timeout by Schmidlin, the Lakers were able to stop the Mavericks run and the pair of teams traded points. With the score tied at 15, LSSU earned 10 of the next 12 points to secure the win.
Set Four: The final set of the match featured competitive play between the two teams as the Lakers looked to force a decisive fifth set. The Lakers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead over the Mavericks but the score would soon be tied at 10 apiece. LSSU strung together three straight points late in the set (21-20) to come back within a point of MSU but the Mavericks would clinch the win, 25-23.
Stat Leaders: Gruber had her best match as a Laker as she led the team with 13 kills and was tied for the team lead in digs with 16. Camdyn Odykirk ranked second on the team in kills against the Mavericks with 12, while also recording two block solos and three block assists. Junior setter Emily Kalinowski notched 24 of the team's 41 assists while Grulke added 13 assists. Hagelthorn added 16 digs in the match to tie for the team lead while also adding two of the team's six aces.
Up Next:
The Lakers will travel to Kenosha, Wisc. next weekend to play in the Parkside Hampton Inn Invitational on Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11. LSSU will play Minnesota-Duluth and Quincy on Friday, and take on Colorado Christian and Minnesota State on Saturday.
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