PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie Volleyball team opened G-MAC competition in their home opener against the Tiffin Dragons. The Storm would win a tightly contested first set, but the Dragons would win the next three sets and take the match. Lake Erie moves to 0-1 in the G-MAC and 2-6 overall. 

The first set would see the Dragons jump out to a quick 3-0 lead after a Storm attack error. Tiffin and Lake Erie would then trade points back and forth. After an ace by senior Sarah Leyden made it a tie game at 6-6, the Dragons would win the next three points to take a 9-6 advantage. The Storm would take the next three points to tie the score back at 9-9. No team was able to take a lead more than three points without the other team coming back to tie it up. With the set coming to a close, Tiffin had just taken a lead of 24-23. The Storm would prevent the Dragons from scoring anymore and were able to steal the next three points with kills from freshmen Allison Kirch and Gabrielle Jones. Lake Erie would win the first set by a score of 26-24. The Storm offense would erupt with 21 of the 26 points being on kills. 

The second set would again see the Dragons race out to an early lead. Tiffin would take a 10-2 after Lake Erie miscues. The Storm would cut the lead down to five after a block by seniors Anna Lewis and Katelyn McMoore, as well as a solo block by Lewis. The Dragons would grow their lead back up to eight and hold a 16-8 lead. Lake Erie would again begin to claw away at the Tiffin lead by winning the next five points and cutting the lead to 16-13 after kills from redshirt freshman Rori Hanken and an ace by sophomore Diamond Baker. The Storm would be able to claw all the way back to tie the set up at 21 before the Dragons won the next four points after Storm attack errors and a Dragon ace. Tiffin would win the set by a score of 25-21.

The third set was another similar story for the Dragons as they ran out to a 7-2 lead early. With a Lake Erie attack error giving Tiffin a 13-9 lead, Lake Erie would respond back by winning the next three points on three Hanken kills to cut the Tiffin lead to one. The teams would go back and forth the next couple points until the Dragons would grab the momentum. Tiffin would win seven of the next eight points to take full momentum in the set with the score growing to a 22-14 Tiffin lead. A block by Baker and Kirch, a kill by Kirch, and a block by Lewis and Hanken were not enough for the Storm to come back as the Dragons would win the third set by a score of 25-17. 

The fourth set began with teams exchanging points. After a McMoore kill tying the set at 8, the Dragons would win five of the next six points and take a 13-9 lead after multiple Storm miscues. Tiffin would continue gaining momentum in the set with more Lake Erie miscues and Tiffin kills by taking a 19-12 lead. The Storm would fight back to cut the Dragon lead to four making the score 20-16 after a McMoore kill and a block by sophomore Kennady Wiley. Tiffin would not let Lake Erie get any closer as they would win five of the next six points to take the fourth set by a score of 25-17. 

The Storm offense would see four players have more than 10 kills, with Kirch leading the way 14 kills. Senior Simone Schurr would lead the team with 24 assists with Leyden also chipping in 16 assists. The Storm defense was led by Lewis, who had three blocks and senior Brooklyn Broadway would lead with 24 digs. 

Lake Erie will step out of G-MAC play as they travel to New York to play Roberts Wesleyan on Friday, September 20th at 6 p.m.