SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's volleyball team fell in a match against the Northern Michigan Wildcats by a score of 3-0 on  Friday, March 19 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 25-20, 25-18, and 25-13 to the Wildcats. 

The Wildcats got off to a strong start over the Lakers in the first set scoring the first seven consecutive points to take a 7-0 lead over the Lakers. Northern Michigan, the No. 24 ranked team in Division II, would extend the lead to 16-4 at one point over the Lakers. Lake Superior State would rally in the second half of the set, led by strong serving from libero Sydney Briney. Briney would record a service ace to make it a 19-10 score and a kill from Halle Grulke would bring the Lakers within seven points (19-12). 

Sarah Bailey added back-to-back kills for the Lakers as the team's comeback brought them within six points (20-14). Nina White and Malia Howe would each add a kill as the Lakers closed in on Northern Michigan (21-17). However, the Lakers rally would fall short as the Wildcats closed out the set by a score of 25-20 to lead 1-0 in the match. 

The Lakers had a strong start in the second set, taking an early 3-2 lead over the Wildcats. Northern Michigan would respond with a stretch of five consecutive points to build a 7-3 lead. LSSU brought the game within two points (9-7) when Sarah Bailey recorded a kill. Through the next stretch of action, Grulke would add two kills, Bailey posted a kill and Briney recorded a service ace as the Lakers were within three points of NMU (14-11). 

Camdyn Odykirk and Emily Kalinowski each registered a service ace for the Lakers 14th and 16th points in the match, respectively as the team trailed NMU by four points (20-16). The Wildcats offense would secure the final five points to take the second set by a 25-18 score. 

The Wildcats would take the three-set victory over the Lakers after posting a 25-13 win in the third set. With the loss, the Lakers record drops to 0-9 this season as the team is in the midst of the fifth week of GLIAC play. 

The Lakers finished the match against the Wildcats registering a total of 31 kills, led by Bailey who finished the match with 12 kills. Howe ranked second on the team with seven kills in the match. Setter Emily Kalinowski led the Lakers with 19 assists in the match while also adding two service aces and a team-leading 11 digs. Briney tied Kalinowski for the team-lead in service aces with two while also recording seven digs. 

Northern Michigan totaled 40 kills in the trio of sets, led by Lizzy Stark who posted 12 kills.  

The Lakers recorded 43 digs in the match as compared to 45 by the Wildcats. 

The Lakers will play their final home match of the 2021 regular season tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. against the Wildcats in the Bud Cooper 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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