CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie volleyball team continued their push for a G-MAC tournament berth with a road match against South Division leader, the Cedarville Yellow Jackets. The match would go the distance and would see the Storm upset the Yellow Jackets in five sets. Lake Erie now moves to 6-9 in the G-MAC and 9-19 overall. 

Game Recap

The first set began with Cedarville grabbing an early 6-3 lead. After exchanging points, Lake Erie would tie the set at 12-12 after two kills from junior Jasmine Heyward and a block by senior Anna Lewis and freshman Gabrielle Jones. After the block, the Yellow Jackets would grab full momentum winning 13 of the next 14 points and win the first set by a score of 25-13, with the Storm completely imploding having a multitude of attack and reception errors.

The second set would see Cedarville continuing their momentum from the first set, jumping out to an early 5-2 lead. Lake Erie would began to claw their way back and take their first lead of the set at 10-8 after a block by sophomore Kennady Wiley and freshman Allison Kirch, and kills from Wiley and Kirch, assisted by senior Sarah Leyden. After the Yellow Jackets tied the set at 10-10, the Storm would strike by winning the next eight points with kills from freshman Sadie Nawrocki, senior Katelyn McMoore, and Kirch, and two aces from senior Simone Schurr to take an 18-10 advantage. Kills from Heyward, McMoore, and Kirch would give Lake Erie the second set by a score of 25-18. 

The third set would see the Storm continue their momentum from the second set by taking an early 4-2 lead after a kill from Nawrocki and an ace from freshman Cecelia Mullen. After an exchange of points, Lake Erie would have the lead at 7-6 after a block by Wiley and Kirch, a kill from Lewis, and ace from Schurr. Cedarville would see momentum shift their way, taking the next four points and taking a 10-7 lead. The Yellow Jackets would continue to their momentum by taking a 16-9 lead. Cedarville continued to pull away with the score at 19-11 after a Lake Erie attack error. Kills from Heyward and Kirch would not be enough as the Yellow Jackets would take the third set by a score of 25-13. 

The fourth set would begin with teams exchanging points. After a Yellow Jackets kill for a 4-3 lead, the Storm would take five of the next six points to take an 8-5 lead after two kills from McMoore, assisted by Leyden, and an ace from Wiley. Cedarville would then sting Lake Erie, taking the next seven points to take a 12-8 lead. The Storm would then strike by taking the next seven points to take a 15-12 lead with kills from redshirt freshman Rori Hanken, Jones, and Kirch, a block by Jones and Hanken, and an ace from Schurr. Lake Erie would continue to pull away taking a 20-13 with kills from Kirch, Hanken, Jones, and Heyward, assisted by Schurr and senior Brooklyn Broadway. A block by Jones and Hanken, an ace from Leyden, and a kill from McMoore would give the Storm the fourth set by a score of 25-17. 

The fifth set began with Lake Erie grabbing early momentum taking a 4-1 lead after a block by McMoore and Wiley, and a kill by McMoore. The Storm would continue carrying the momentum taking an 8-3 lead after kills from Kirch and McMoore, assisted by Broadway and Leyden. Cedarville would make things interesting cutting the lead to 10-8. Lake Erie would take the next two points with kills from Hanken and Jones, each assisted by Schurr to bring the lead to 12-8. The Yellow Jackets would take the next two points to bring the score to 12-10. Another kill from Jones, assisted by Schurr, and two kills from McMoore, each assisted by Leyden would give the Storm the decisive fifth set by a score of 15-12. 

The Storm offense would see three players have at least 10 kills, with Kirch leading the team with 14. From the service line, Schurr would have four aces, and Leyden, Wiley, and Mullens would each have one. Schurr would lead the team with 25 assists and Leyden would pitch in 23. The Storm defense was led by Wiley and Jones, each posting three blocks, and Broadway would lead the team with 12 digs. 

The Matchup

With the win, Lake Erie wins their first game against Cedarville, snapping an eight-game losing streak in the series.

Looking Ahead

Lake Erie will conclude the regular season with a G-MAC matchup against Ohio Dominican University on Friday, November 15th at 6 p.m.