Box Score Starting quickly against ranked competition in your season's first match put a nice feather in the cap of Lake Superior State's volleyball team. But #22 Northern State (5-0) rallied and beat the Lakers (0-1) in straight sets Thursday night, 25-18, 25-6, 25-6.

The trip from Sault Ste. Marie, MI to Mankato, MN is not a short one - about 10 hours. But the Lakers looked fresh to start the match, with kills by Morgan Deming, Olivia Boutorwick and Mia Garcia snatching an 3-1 first set Lake State lead. The Wolves rallied to take the advantage, and the two teams dueled for rest of the opening set. Deming, a force at the net for LSSU, blocked two attacks and Rachel Steele notched a pair of kills. The Lakers stayed in striking distance, but NSU took the first set.

The Wolves opened the second set with a lengthy run before two of the Lakers best attackers, Valeriya Varnakova and Deming, struck back. Varnakova finished the match with three kills. The third set began with another long NSU run before Avery Headworth's passing got the Lakers back on the board.

The Lakers play four total matches at the Mankato Tournament. Host Minnesota State, a conference foe for the Lakers hockey team but a non-conference opponent in all other sports, plays LSSU on Friday at 11:00 AM EST. Lake State then plays a double feature on Saturday, with a breakfast-time match, 9:00 AM EST, against Minnesota-Crookston, before a dinnertime clash with Quincy. That match is set for 5:00 PM EST.

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