HAMMOND, Indiana – The Lake Erie volleyball team traveled to Indiana to compete in the Midwest Region Crossover, the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament. On day one, the Storm went to battle against two GLVC teams, the Missouri S&T Miners in game one and the Southwest Baptist Bearcats in game two. On day two, the Storm went to battle against the GLIAC's Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.  
 
DAY ONE:
 
GAME ONE
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 7-11
Missouri S&T: 3-14
 
Game Recap
 
Missouri S&T- 3
Lake Erie- 0
 
Set 1: The Storm would jump ahead early 7-2 after kills from Sadie Nawrocki and Nora Larson, along with a block from Rori Hanken and Gabrielle Jones. The Miners would quickly right the ship and take the lead 9-8. S&T would grab control of the set by taking nine straight points, growing their lead to 20-11. Lake Erie would take three of the next four points with kills from Kennady Wiley and Jasmine Heyward, along with a block from Heyward and Hanken. The Miners would be able to hold 25-16.
 
Set 2: The Miners continued momentum from the first to go ahead 9-3 early. Sophia McKenzie would get two kills, each assisted from Kylie Anderson, and to cut the Storm deficit to 10-6. Lake Erie would continue cutting their deficit with the score now at 16-13 with kills from Hanken and Kennedy Stewart. S&T would then grow their lead to 22-15. The Miners would close out the set 25-18.
 
Set 3: The Storm would race ahead to an early 5-2 with kills from Heyward, Hanken, and Allison Kirch. The Miners would take the next three points to tie the set back at 5. After exchanging points, Lake Erie would go back ahead 12-10 after a kill from Hanken and a block from Hanken and Lexi Stooksbury. S&T would then push ahead 15-14. The Storm would move back ahead 16-15 after a kill from Stooksbury. The Miners would jolt ahead, taking six of the next seven points for a 21-17 lead. Lake Erie would cut the deficit to 22-20 after a kill from Ni'yah Fuggs along with two errors. S&T would take the next three points to take the set 25-20 to secure a sweep. 
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 37, Miners- 42
Attack Errors: Storm- 17, Miners- 14
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .192, Miners- .243
 
Aces: Storm- 1, Miners- 10 
Blocks: Storm- 8, Miners- 7
Assists: Storm- 33, Miners- 38
Digs: Storm- 48, Miners- 46
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Rori Hanken (9), Jasmine Heyward (5), Allison Kirch (5)
Aces: Sophia McKenzie (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (4), Jasmine Heyward (3), Kennady Stewart (3)
Assists: Kylie Anderson (19), Jenna Sayles (10), Bella Kessler (1)
Digs: Bella Kessler (11), Cecelia Mullen (7), Allison Kirch (6)
 
Series History
 
This was Lake Erie's second matchup against Missouri S&T with the other matchup coming in 2018 in this same event with Lake Erie coming out on top in five sets.
 
GAME TWO
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 7-12
Southwest Baptist: 7-12
 
Game Recap
 
Southwest Baptist: 3
Lake Erie: 0
 
Set 1: The teams would begin the set exchanging points. The Storm would go ahead 10-7 after taking four straight points, with kills from Kennady Wiley and Allison Kirch, and a block from Wiley and Ni'yah Fuggs. Lake Erie maintained their lead to 13-10 after kills from Fuggs and Nora Larson. The Storm would grow their lead to 20-16 after a block from Rori Hanken and Gabrielle Jones and an ace from Paige Jestadt. The Bearcats roared back to tie the set at 21. Lake Erie would be on the verge of the set, taking three of the next four points to go ahead 24-22 with kills from Wiley, Larson, and Fuggs. Southwest Baptist would claw all the way back to force extra points and steal the set 26-24. 
 
Set 2: The Bearcats continued their momentum from the first set, going ahead 10-5. Southwest Baptist would balloon their lead to 21-11. The Storm would strike, taking nine of the next 10 points with kills from Hanken, Jasmine Heyward and Sadie Nawrocki, a block from Hanken and Heyward, a solo block from Hanken, and an ace from Kylie Anderson, cutting their deficit to 22-20. Lake Erie would force extra points, tying the set at 24 with a block from Wiley and Nawrocki, and kills from Wiley and Kirch. The Bearcats would put their foot down and take the next two points for the set with a score of 26-24.
 
Set 3: The Bearcats would slowly build a lead at 10-6. The Storm would cut the deficit to 11-10 after kills from Heyward, Nawrocki, and Jones. Southwest Baptist would then push ahead 19-14. Lake Erie would cut the deficit again to one, bringing the score to 20-19 after kills from Nawrocki and Heyward, each assisted by Jenna Sayles, and an ace from Larson. The Bearcats would be able to hold on 25-21 to secure the sweep. 
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 35, Bearcats- 43
Attack Errors: Storm- 19, Bearcats- 11
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .131, Bearcats- .167
 
Aces: Storm- 3, Bearcats- 7 
Blocks: Storm- 4, Bearcats- 7
Assists: Storm- 34, Bearcats- 36
Digs: Storm- 39, Bearcats- 43
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Kennady Wiley (8), Jasmine Heyward (5), Ni'yah Fuggs (4)
Aces: Paige Jestadt (1), Allison Kirch (1), Nora Larson (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (5), Kennady Wiley (5), Sadie Nawrocki (3)
Assists: Jenna Sayles (18), Kylie Anderson (10), Cecelia Mullen (4)
Digs: Cecelia Mullen (23), Paige Jestadt (9), Allison Kirch (8)
 
Series History
 
This was the second matchup between Lake Erie and Southwest Baptist. The other previous matchup came in the Crossover in 2021 with Southwest Baptist taking it in straight sets.
 
DAY TWO:
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 8-12
Saginaw Valley State: 7-13
 
Game Recap
 
Lake Erie - 3
Saginaw Valley State- 1
 
Set 1: The Storm would go ahead early 7-3 after a block from Rori Hanken and Gabrielle Jones and an ace from Nicole Colombo. The Cardinals would then move ahead 11-10. Lake Erie would move back in front 16-12 after blocks from Kennedy Stewart and Jasmine Heyward and Stewart and Jones. The Storm would grow their lead to 22-16 after kills from Jones and Allison Kirch and a block from Hanken and Kirch. Lake Erie would close out the set 25-18 after a kill from Jones and a block from Hanken and Sadie Nawrocki.   
 
Set 2: The Cardinals would jump out to an early 4-1 lead. The Storm would find their footing to take the lead 11-7 with kills from Nawrocki, Stewart, and Heyward. Lake Erie would grow their lead to 15-11 after kills from Heyward, Stewart, Jones, and Kirch, each assisted from Kylie Anderson. The Storm would hold for the set 25-22. 
 
Set 3: The Cardinals would grab momentum in the set early with a 10-7 lead. The Storm would cut the lead to one, bringing the score to 16-15 after a kill from Kirch. Saginaw Valley State would go on a run and take the 25-18.
 
Set 4: After exchanging points, the Storm would grab momentum, growing their lead to 12-5 after taking seven straight points after kills from Kirch, Heyward, and Jones and a block from Stewart and Jones. Lake Erie would continue to grow their lead all the way to 22-10. The Storm would take the set comfortably 25-10 after a block from Stewart and a kill from Jones. 
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 47, Cardinals- 47
Attack Errors: Storm- 19, Cardinals- 30
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .224, Cardinals- .121
 
Aces: Storm- 6, Cardinals- 5 
Blocks: Storm- 13, Cardinals- 8
Assists: Storm- 45, Cardinals- 46
Digs: Storm- 47, Cardinals- 50
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Allison Kirch (14), Jasmine Heyward (10), Gabrielle Jones (9)
Aces: Kennedy Stewart (2), Allison Kirch (2), Nicole Colombo (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (7), Kennedy Stewart (6), Gabrielle Jones (6)
Assists: Kylie Anderson (29), Cecelia Mullen (8), Dylan Fox (6)
Digs: Allison Kirch (13), Paige Jestadt (9), Cecelia Mullen (8)
 
The Matchup
 
Lake Erie has secured their first win against Saginaw Valley State and is now 1-10 all-time. 
 
Up Next
 
Lake Erie return to Painesville to face off against Roberts Wesleyan University on Tuesday, October 21st at 5 p.m.  
 
Roberts Wesleyan is currently 2-16 on the season. Recently, the Redhawks lost a four-set match against D'Youville.