HAMMOND, Ind. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) volleyball team (1-8, 0-1 GLIAC) fell in their GLIAC opener on the road to the Purdue Northwest Pride (6-3, 1-0 GLIAC) on Thursday.
The Pride struck quickly in the first set, but the Lakers fought back with a 5-1 run to trim down the deficit. However, the Pride would press on to take the opening set.
The Lakers would shake off the slow start by racing to a 6-2 lead in the second set after Emily Hagelthorn (South Lyon, Mich.) got things started off with a service ace. The Lakers would continue to win points with their serves, going on multiple 3-0 scoring spurts that featured back-to-back aces from Emilee McDaniel (Manistique, Mich.), and they would follow that up with a 5-0 run that Hagelthorn closed out with back-to-back aces of her own to take a commanding 18-10 advantage. LSSU would go on to tie up the match after their strong showing in the second set, claiming it by a score of 25-16.
Purdue Northwest would take the lead early in the third set, but the Lakers would rally back in force with runs of 5-1 and 7-1 that featured multiple kills from McDaniel and a pair of aces from Sydney Briney, trimming the Pride's lead down to two points. However, despite the valiant Laker rally, it would ultimately not be enough as Purdue Northwest was able to hold on to take the set by a narrow margin of 25-22.
The Lakers would take a slim lead early in the fourth set behind kills from Mariana Velasque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and McDaniel, but the Pride struck back with a run of their own. The Lakers would continue to keep fighting, but despite a late rally that featured multiple kills from Velasque, the Pride held on to survive, taking the set and the match by respective scores of 25-18 and 3-1.
Velasque led the Lakers in kills with 14 while McDaniel was able to add double-digit kills of her own while also notching a team-leading four service aces. Meanwhile, Emily Kalinowski (South Lyon, Mich.) led all players with 35 assists.
The Lakers will look to bounce back in their home-opener on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. when they take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals in Bud Cooper Gymnasium.