NORTH CANTON, Ohio- In a season of bests for the Lake Erie College volleyball team, the Storm marked another first off of the list on Saturday (Nov. 12) as Lake Erie clinched a playoff spot in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The Storm clinched a spot with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-17) win over the Walsh University Cavaliers. Lake Erie is now 18-15 overall and 9-7 in the GLIAC.

Lake Erie took advantage of some early Walsh errors as the Storm opened a 5-0 lead. The lead grew to eight before the Cavaliers took a timeout. Lake Erie led by as many as 12 in the set before taking set one 25-15.

After exchanging points in the beginning of the second set, Lake Erie was able to take a 7-4 off of a Walsh error. The Cavaliers ran off five straight points, taking a 9-7 lead. With the score tied 10-10, Lake Erie took a 6-1 into a Walsh timeout at 16-11. Lexi Lombardo (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) ended the set with a kill and a 25-19 Storm win.

Lake Erie took a 2-1 lead as Walsh stayed close before tying the set at 6. Lake Erie improved the lead to five at 14-9. With the lead at five, Lake Erie continued the pressure expanding the lead to eight. The Storm clinched a playoff spot with a Lee Lee Barrett (Chattanooga, Tenn. / Ootlewah) kill in a 25-17 set three win.

Barrett was tied with Brooke Pieffer (Lansing, Mich. / Holt) with ten kills each for the Storm. Bethany Fisher (Orrville, Ohio / Dalton) added eight kills on the offensive side. Sidney Fletcher (Saline, Mich. / Saline) led the defense with 16 digs. Crystal Kedroske (Dexter, Mich. / Dexter) and Alexis Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio / Fairfield) had 12 and ten kills, respectively.

The Storm will open the first round of the GLIAC Tournament on Wednesday (Nov. 16) at the #2 seed Findlay. Lake Erie defeated Findlay in five sets last month. 

-LEC-