HAMMOND, Indiana — The Lake Erie women's volleyball team traveled to Hammond, Indiana to play in the annual Midwest Region Crossover Tournament, hosted by the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Storm faced the McKendree Bearcats the first day, and the Truman State Bulldogs and the Lake Superior State Lakers on day two. Lake Erie was unable to secure a win throughout the weekend with fighting efforts throughout. The Storm move to a 3-18 overall record.
DAY 1
The solo game for the day was against the McKendree Bearcats. The Storm struggled to connect throughout the game, putting up 15 kills against KcKendree's 36. Leaders include senior Taylor Metzler and sophomore Jessica Ickes with three kills, senior captain setter Simone Schurr with seven assists, and senior Alana Stevens with six digs. The Bearcats took all three sets with set scores of 25-7, 25-15, and 25-13.
DAY 2
GAME ONE
The Storm faced off against the Truman State Bulldogs for the first match of day two. The first set was close with a final score of 25-21 Truman, with Lake Erie recording 12 kills over the Bulldogs' ten.
Lake Erie was able to secure the second set in a long battle after being tied 12-12. A kill from sophomore Alexandra Matthews gave the Storm the 25-24 lead before Truman responded with a kill. Senior Katelyn McMoore put away two kills to end the set 27-25, forcing a fourth set.
Sets three and four went in Truman's favor, with efforts from freshman Ni'yah Fuggs, McMoore, senior Alexandra Matthews, and freshman Lauren Pallone on offense. Fuggs achieved her career high in kills with 12 on the match.
Junior setter Sarah Leyden finished with 19 assist for the match, followed by junior captain Simone Schurr with 15. Junior libero Brooklyn Broadway picked up 15 digs and senior Alana Stevens picked up 14.
GAME 2
The Storm finished the tournament with a match against the Lake Superior State Lakers. The first set started off with the Storm gaining a 9-2 lead over the Lakers. The Lakers slowly fought back, but the freshman duo of Kylie Maxwell and Lauren Pallone helped Lake Erie stay strong on offense. The Storm took the 25-20 first set win after a service ace from Pallone.
The second set had fighting efforts from both sides. At a 6-6 tie, Matthews put down a kill to pull the Storm ahead. Each side of the net looked to take the second set, yet the Lakers were able to take control of the set. The freshman four of Kennedy Wylie, Maxwell, Fuggs, and Pallone each recorded kills for the Storm, but Lake Superior took the set 25-18.
Despite a slow start in the third set, the Storm was able to tie it up at 8-8 after a kill from Fuggs and an ace from Schurr. Unfortunately the Lakers followed the tie with a run to give them an 18-8 lead. The Storm went out swinging with several kills, but Lake Superior secured the third set 25-16.
Lake Erie fought hard to force a fifth set, with Matthews and Pallone starting off the fourth set with Storm kills. At a 10-10 tie, senior Alana Stevens went on a short run to give the Storm a 14-10 lead. The Lakers responded with kills, to which senior Taylor Metzler answered with a kill. Back and forth points brought the fourth set to a 24-24 tie, yet a Laker kill and a Storm error gave Lake Superior the game winning set 26-24.
Lake Erie heads back to Painesville to host the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers for another G-MAC match on Friday, October 21st at 6:00 PM.
