OWENSBORO, Ky. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) volleyball team (3-5) picked up a pair of 3-0 sweeps in their final day of competition at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational with wins over the Christian Brothers Buccaneers and the West Alabama Tigers on Saturday.

Christian Brothers

Both teams battled early, but the Lakers were able to take control, pulling ahead with a 12-2 run that featured back-to-back aces from Jordyn Haller (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) and multiple kills from Gia Waters (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Maggie Morris (Schoolcraft, Mich.) to take a 15-5 advantage. The Buccaneers were able to rally back to within four, but Waters continued to apply pressure with three more kills before Haller put the set away at 25-18.

Similar to the first, both teams would open the second set by feeling each other out as an ace from Shea Berisoff (Kelowna, B.C.) gave her team a 5-4 lead. LSSU would then pull ahead with a 7-1 run with three more kills from Morris, but the Buccaneers rallied to tie up the score at 17-17. However, the Lakers held their ground with a 6-0 run to force several set point opportunities with an ace from Vanessa Swerdon (Toronto, Ont.) before closing it out by a margin of 25-19.

The Buccaneers came out swinging to start the third set, taking an early 11-2 advantage, but the Lakers settled in with a 6-0 run of their own to trim the lead back down to two points. Both teams would then go back and forth before eventually finding themselves at 23-23. Neither side was willing to give an inch, continuing to extend the set, but Morgan Deming (Boyne City, Mich.) was ultimately able to deny the Buccaneers, ending the match with a solo block and taking the final set by a score of 28-26.

The Lakers balanced attack resulted in Morris (12), Deming (12), and Waters (11) all finishing with double-digit kills with Morris also notching 6 blocks on the match, half of which were solo. Meanwhile, Swerdon picked up a game-high 33 assists while also adding 12 digs for the double-double, and both Waters and Haller had double-digit digs of their own on the defensive end. 

West Alabama

The Tigers were able to take an early lead in the match, but the Lakers bounced back with an 11-2 run with aces from Swerdon and Ally Lasley (Birch Run, Mich.). Both teams continued to battle for the remainder of the opening set, but Swerdon and Morris teamed up for a block to put away any hope of a Tiger rally, closing out the set by a score of 25-17. 

The Lakers opened the second set with a 6-2 advantage behind kills from Waters and Haller, but the Tigers crawled back to tie the score. LSSU would then take command of the set with a 7-1 run that featured a pair of kills from Waters, and they would press ahead, ending the set on a 5-1 run before ultimately finishing with an ace from Waters. 

LSSU got off to a hot start in the third set, opening with a 9-1 run with multiple kills from Berisoff and Valeriya Varnakova (Ufa, Russia), and they would not look back, dominating the final set by a margin of 25-14.

The Lakers got it done on the defensive end of the floor, combining for 7 total blocks with Morris being involved in five of them. Meanwhile, Haller notched 11 digs while Swerdon posted a game-high 16 assists. 

The Lakers return to action on Thursday, Sept. 19 for their home-opener against Saginaw Valley State in Bud Cooper Gymnasium with the first serve scheduled for 6:30 p.m.