INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Lake Superior State volleyball team opened play in the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament with a four set win over Maryville University at the Academy in Indianapolis, Ind. on Friday, Oct. 18. The Lakers have now surpassed last season's win total as their record improved to 6-12 overall and Head Coach Dave Schmidlin has now increased the team's win total in all three seasons in the role at Lake State. 

The Lakers entered the tournament as the No. 11 seed among Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams while the Maryville University Saints ranked as the No. 16 seed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Lakers would win the opening set by a score of 25-21 but the Saints would respond with their own 25-21 win in the second set to even the match. The Lakers closed out the game with back-to-back set wins by scores of 25-16 and 25-23 to open the tournament with a win. It marks the second time this season that the Lakers have recorded consecutive wins. 

The Lakers win was a result of balanced efforts both offensively and defensively. Senior outside hitter Amanda Reid led the Lakers with 13 kills but junior Sarah Bailey (12) and sophomore Camdyn Odykirk (10) each had strong games as well. Senior Caitlyn Kane led the Lakers with six blocks against the Saints while sophomore Bethany Wilson was right behind with five total blocks. Sophomore setter Halle Grulke continued to set her teammates up as she tallied 36 assists in the match to lead the team. LSSU's serving game was solid as freshman defensive specialist Sydney Briney led the Lakers with five aces while Grulke had four and Reid had three to help the Lakers secure the win.  Defensively, the Lakers were led by the trio of sophomore libero Abby Beachnau who had 16 digs in the effort, Grulke who had 15 digs and Briney with 8 total digs in the match. 

The Lakers will continue play in the tournament tomorrow Saturday, Oct. 19 with a doubleheader. Lake State will play Ohio Dominican University at 1:00 p.m. followed by a match against Alderson Broaddus at 4:00 p.m. 

For more information, visit lssulakers.com

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