KENOSHA, Wisconsin -- The Lake Erie Volleyball continued the 2024 season at the Hampton Inn Invitational for a three-day tournament against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Wayne State University(Michigan), Upper Iowa University, and Northern State University. On day one, the Storm faced the Rangers. On day two, Lake Erie faced the Warriors in game one and the Peacocks in game two, followed by facing the Wolves on day three. The Storm finished the tournament with an 0-4 record.

DAY ONE

The Storm began the Hampton Inn Invitational against host school, Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers. Wisconsin-Parkside would prevail in straight sets. 

The first set began with teams exchanging points back and forth. The score was tied 5-5 until Parkside began to take momentum by taking a 14-8 lead. Lake Erie would get kills from freshmen Sadie Nawrocki and Allison Kirch to cut the lead to four to a 14-10 score. Kills by Kirch and a kill by sophomore Diamond Baker would bring the score to 18-13. The Baker kill would be the last point that the Storm would win in the set as the Rangers would win the next seven points by winning the set by a score of 25-13. Parkside had 15 kills with a .583 hitting percentage, while Lake Erie had six kills with a .087 hitting percentage. 

The second set saw each team exchanging points early. The Storm would have early momentum by taking a 7-5 lead following a redshirt freshman Rori Hanken and a block from Hanken and senior Anna Lewis. The momentum Lake Erie built would be dissolved as Parkside would take the next five points to take the 10-7 lead. Two kills from freshman Gabrielle Jones would take the Ranger lead to 14-10. Parkside grabbed the next five points following three aces to grow their led to 19-10. Ranger miscues cut their lead down to six as the score is now 20-14. Lake Erie would have their own miscues to end the set and Parkside would win the second set by a score of 25-16. 

The third set would begin with an early advantage for the Storm. Lake Erie built a 5-3 lead following a Hanken kill. The Storm's momentum was completely stopped as the Rangers would take the next nine points and take a 12-5 lead. The Parkside lead would continue to grow as the lead was built up to 22-9 after multiple kills and Lake Erie miscues. Kills from Kirch and sophomore Kennady Wiley were not enough to bring the Storm back as the Rangers would win the third set by a score of 25-11. 

The Storm offense was led by Baker and Kirch, who each had four kills. Senior Simone Schurr led the team with 10 assists with senior Sarah Leyden having eight assists of her own. Lewis and Hanken each had one block. Senior Brooklyn Broadway led the back row with eight digs. 

DAY TWO

GAME ONE

The Storm began day two against the Wayne State Warriors. Lake Erie was able to take a set off the Wayne State, but the Warriors would take a four set victory.

The first set would see Wayne State grab early momentum by taking a 4-1 lead following four kills with Lake Erie grabbing the next three points to make it tied 4-4. The Warriors began to grab momentum in the set pulling ahead 12-9 after a Warrior kill. With the lead now at 17-13 for Wayne State, Lake Erie strikes with the next five points to take a 18-17 lead off a Hanken kill. After a brief exchange in points, the Storm would grab a 24-22 lead, but their score would hold at 24. After multiple Lake Erie miscues and a Warrior kill, Wayne State would take the set from Lake Erie by a score of 26-24. 

The second set would see the Storm jump out to an early 4-1 lead with multiple kills by Jones, as well as a block by Jones and Lewis. Wayne State would eat away at the Lake Erie lead and would overtake Lake Erie leading by a score of following multiple WSU kills and aces. The Warriors would begin to tack on more points and built the lead to 15-10 following a Warrior ace. The Storm would cut the lead to 17-14 after a senior Katelyn McMoore kill and Warrior attack error. Wayne State would take the next three points building the lead to 20-14. The Warriors would pull away late in the set and would take the set by a score of 25-19. 

The third set would begin the set with teams exchanging points. The score was 6-6 when the Storm would grab momentum. Lake Erie would win the next five points to take an 11-6 lead. The Storm would continue to carry the momentum building a 17-8 highlighted with a block by Hanken and Wiley. Wayne State would fight back and cut the Lake Erie lead down to five as WSU would take the next four points. Warrior miscues late in the set were enough for the Storm to take the third set by a score of 25-19. 

The fourth set would see multiple scoring runs by each team. The first scoring run was by Wayne State when they scored six consecutive points to build a 7-3 lead. The Storm would immediately go on their own scoring run by winning the next five points and taking an 8-7 highlighted by two kills by freshman Nora Larson. The Warriors would respond back by going on another scoring run, this time winning the next four points to take a 12-10 lead. Lake Erie would keep the score close at 17-15 after a Larson kill. The Warriors would take the next three points to grab a 20-15, followed by the Storm winning the next three points bringing the score to 20-18. Wayne State would again win the next three points to build the advantage to 23-18. Kills by Kirch, Baker, and Nawrocki were not enough as the Warriors would take the fourth set by a score of 25-22. 

The Storm offense was led by Kirch leading the team with 12 kills. Schurr led the team with 26 assists. The Storm defense was led by Hanken with four blocks and Broadway, who had 12 digs. 

GAME TWO

In Lake Erie's second match of the day, they would face off against the Upper Iowa Peacocks. The Peacocks would take a straight set victory. 

The first set would see Upper Iowa take the momentum quickly taking a 7-2 lead with all their points coming on kills. The Peacocks would continue to add on to their lead by building the score to 10-3. The Storm would win the next two points to cut the UIU lead to five, but UIU would take five of the next six points take grow their lead to 16-7. A Peacock service error and kills from Baker and junior Jasmine Heyward would see the Storm cut the lead to six. Three straight points would grow the Peacock back to nine bringing the score to 19-10. Kills would come in bunches and UIU would win the first set 25-16. 

The second set would begin nearly identical as the Peacocks would grab an early lead due the Storm miscues. Lake Erie's miscues would continue to pile on early with UIU building a lead of 11-3. The Storm would cut the lead down to five with two Peacock attack errors and an ace from sophomore Jenna Sayles. Upper Iowa would keep slowing any momentum for Lake Erie as they would win five of the next seven points to build a lead of 16-8. The Storm would continue to struggle with miscues and Peacock kills and would take the second set by a score of 25-13.

The third set would see Lake Erie grab early momentum with kills by Kirch and Baker and took a 4-1 advantage. After a brief exchange in points, the lead was 7-6 when the Peacocks would begin to grab momentum by winning the next six points to hold a 12-7 lead. After a McMoore kill, UIU would win the seven of the next nine points to take a 18-9 lead and take control of the set. Multiple McMoore kills and a Jones kill were not enough for the Storm to claw back in the set as the Peacocks would win the third set by a score of 25-14.

Leading the offense for Lake Erie was Kirch with six kills and McMoore and Hanken, who each had four kills. Schurr would lead the team with 11 assists with Sayles pitching in eight of her own. The Storm defense was led by one block each for Hanken and Wiley. Kirch would also lead the team with six digs. 

DAY THREE

In day three of the Hampton Inn Invitational, the Storm would battle against the Northern State Wolves. The Wolves would take a straight set victory. 

The first set would see the Storm grab an early 4-0 lead after a kill from Hanken, two aces from Schurr, and a block from Lewis. The Wolves would erase the Storm lead by taking a 6-5 lead after three kills. After exchanging points, Northern State would win eight of the next 10 points to take a 18-11 lead. Lake Erie would cut the lead to five after a Wolves service error, Kirch ace, and Lewis kill. The Wolves would take control late in the set and would win the set by a score of 25-17. 

The second set would see each team go on multiple scoring runs. Lake Erie would see the first scoring run by winning four points in a row early in the set to take a 4-2 lead. Northern State would take the next four points pulling ahead 6-4. With the score tied 7-7, the Wolves would grab the momentum in the set winning the next four points to take an 11-7 lead. Lake Erie would grab the next two points highlighted by a block from Lewis and Jones. Northern State would further take the momentum by winning seven of the next eight points and taking an 18-11 lead. The Storm would see kills from Hanken, Baker, and McMoore late in the set, but was not enough as the Wolves would take the second set by a score of 25-14.

The third set would see the Wolves grab early momentum by winning the first six points of the set due to Storm miscues. Lake Erie would close the gap to an 8-4 NSU lead highlighted by two kills from Hanken and a block by Lewis and Hanken. The Wolves would get momentum on their side as they would take a 15-6 lead. A block by Lewis and Hanken, followed by another block by Baker would see the Storm cut the lead to 19-12. A kill by Baker and a block by Baker and Jones would not be enough for Lake Erie as Northern State would take the third set by a score of 25-14. 

On the offensive side for the Storm, Hanken would lead the team in kills with seven and Baker would also pitch in six of her own. Schurr would serve up three aces as well as lead the team in assists with 12. On the defensive side, Lewis would lead the team in blocks with four and Hanken and Baker would each have two. Kirch would lead the team in digs with six. 

The Storm will continue their 2024 season as they start G-MAC competition on Tuesday, September 17th with the home opener against Tiffin at 7 p.m.