SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team dropped a match to the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals by a score of 3-0 on Friday, March 12 in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. in the first game of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) weekend series. 

The Lakers dropped the match in three straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-18 to the Cardinals.

In the first set, the Lakers and Cardinals played tight through the first eight points with each team earning four points, including three kills by Halle Grulke. The Lakers went ahead 13-9 in the first set as Bethany Wilson recorded a kill and Camdyn Odykirk added a service ace as the Lakers went on a run of five straight points. 

After Sarah Bailey notched a kill to bring the Lakers back within a point of the Cardinals (16-15), the road squad scored six straight points to go ahead 22-15 in the opening set. SVSU would take the first set by a final score of 25-17. 

The second set also featured close play in the early stages as the two teams were tied at five points apiece. The Lakers would lead 10-9 in the set following a kill by Grulke and the set remained tied at 14-14 when Bailey added another kill for LSSU. The Cardinals offense would take over in the set and would clinch the second set victory by a score of 25-18.

The Cardinals would complete the win with a 25-18 victory in the third set to secure the match victory. 

With the loss, the Lakers record drops to 0-7 this season as the team is in the midst of the fourth week of GLIAC play. 

The Lakers finished the match against the Cardinals registering a total of 26 kills, led by Grulke (8) and Bailey (6). Saginaw Valley totaled 32 kills in the trio of sets, led by Maria Vukaj with 13 kills.  

Emily Kalinowski finished the match with 10 assists to lead the Lakers while Grulke ranked second among her teammates with nine assists against the Cardinals.

Kyra Vezina led the team with 20 digs while freshman libero Emily Hagelthorn ranked second with 16 digs in the match. 

Defensively, the Lakers recorded 61 digs in the match as compared to 68 by the Cardinals.

The Lakers and Cardinals will complete the home-and-home series on Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. in University Center, Mich. in the Cardinal Gymnasium. 

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Due to State of Michigan, GLIAC and Lake Superior State University mandates, fans are not currently permitted to attend any Laker sporting events. Even though spectators cannot currently attend Laker home games, there are still a number of ways that fans will be able to follow the game action. All Laker home games during the 2021 season will be available to watch live on Stretch TV. For more information or to sign up for a subscription, visit https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lssu/. Fans can also access live stats on lssulakers.com

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