KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Lake Erie Volleyball team flew down to the Lone Star State to compete in the Javelina Volleyball Classic, hosted by Texas A&M-Kingsville. On day one, the Storm would play the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm. On day two, the Storm would face the St. Martin Saints in game one and the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas in game two. On day three, the Storm would play the Southern Arkansas Muleriders. Lake Erie would go 1-3. Allison Kirch would be named to Javelina Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team.
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 4-1
Southeastern Oklahoma State: 2-3
 
Game Recap
 
DAY ONE:
 
Lake Erie- 3
Southeastern Oklahoma State- 1
 
Set 1: The Storm would go ahead early, taking a 5-1 lead on kills from Kennady Wiley and Allison Kirch, assisted from Jenna Sayles. The Savage Storm would tie the set up after four straight points at 10-10. Lake Erie would take the lead back with four of their own points for a 16-12 lead with kills from Jasmine Heyward, Sadie Nawrocki, and Rori Hanken, and an ace from Kylie Anderson. SE Oklahoma State would tie the game again at 19. The Storm would rip off five straight points with kills from Kirch and Heyward, and an ace from Kirch for a 24-19 lead. Lake Erie would take the set 25-20.  
 
Set 2: After trading points to begin the set, the Savage Storm would grab momentum, taking a 10-6 lead, which grew to 20-12. The Storm would take six of the next seven points, five of which came on errors from SE Oklahoma State, cutting the deficit to 21-18. Blocks from Wiley and Gabrielle Jones, and Jones and Hanken would not be enough as the Savage Storm took the set 25-21. 
 
Set 3: The Savage Storm would continue momentum from the second set, taking the first four points. The Storm would quickly cut the deficit to 6-5 with kills from Heyward and Lexi Stooksbury and an ace from Anderson. SE Oklahoma State would take four of the next five points for a 10-6 lead. Lake Erie would grab momentum in a hurry, taking the lead and growing it to 17-12, with kills from Kirch, Nawrocki, Wiley, and Heyward, and an ace from Cecelia Mullen. The Savage Storm would cut the deficit to two, bringing the score to 20-18. Kills from Ni'yah Fuggs along with SE Oklahoma State would give the Storm the set with a score of 25-20.
 
Set 4: The Storm would continue their momentum from the third set in a big way, opening the set with an 11-2 lead with kills from Heyward, Kirch, Anderson, and Hanken, two blocks from Hanken and Fuggs, and an ace from Anderson. The Savage Storm would erase their deficit down to 14-13. After exchanging points, Lake Erie would raise their lead to 23-19 with a block from Fuggs and Jocelyn Rogers, and a kill from Heyward. The Storm would hold on with two Savage Storm errors for a 25-21 win.
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 52, Savage Storm- 52
Attack Errors: Storm- 19, Savage Storm- 22
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .243, Savage Storm- .208
 
Aces: Storm- 5, Savage Storm- 8 
Blocks: Storm- 6, Savage Storm- 3
Assists: Storm- 49, Savage Storm- 49
Digs: Storm- 58, Savage Storm- 54
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Allison Kirch (13), Jasmine Heyward (11), Rori Hanken (8)
Aces: Kylie Anderson (3), Allison Kirch (1), Cecelia Mullen (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (3), Ni'yah Fuggs (3), Gabrielle Jones (2)
Assists: Jenna Sayles (25), Kylie Anderson (17), Cecelia Mullen (5)
Digs: Cecelia Mullen (18), Bella Kessler (15), Jenna Sayles (11)
 
The Matchup
 
This was the first matchup between Lake Erie and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
DAY TWO:
 
GAME ONE
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 4-2
Saint Martin: 4-1
 
Game Recap
 
Saint Martin: 3
Lake Erie: 0
 
Set 1: After the Storm would grab the first two points, the Saints would rattle off seven straight points for a 7-2 lead. Lake Erie would begin to cut the deficit down down to 8-5 with two kills from Lexi Stooksbury. The Storm would cut the deficit to 11-10 with kills from Allison Kirch and Jasmine Heyward. Lake Erie would tie the set at 13 with a kill from Kennady Wiley and two St. Martin errors. The Saints would grab momentum back going ahead 22-16. St. Martin would take the set 25-19.
 
Set 2: The beginning portion of the set would see the teams exchanging leads with each teams lead no bigger than one point. After a Stooksbury kill to tie the set at 15, the Saints would take six of the next seven points, grabbing a 21-16 lead. Two kills from Ni'yah Fuggs would not be enough as St. Martin would hold on with a score of 25-18. 
 
Set 3: The Saints would open up the set with an early 8-5 lead. The Storm would tie the set at 10 with kills from Fuggs and Nora Larson, each assisted from Jenna Sayles. Lake Erie would take a 15-12 lead with kills from Larson, Stooksbury, and Rori Hanken, and a block from Hanken and Stooksbury. The Storm would continue to grow their lead to 20-15 with kills from Larson, Kirch, and Stooksbury, an ace from Larson, and a block from Wiley and Stooksbury. St. Martin would take the next four points, cutting the deficit to 20-19. After a kill from Kirch, the Saints would take the last six points of the set, taking the 25-21 victory. 
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 39, Saints- 43
Attack Errors: Storm- 17, Saints- 11
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .195, Saints- .299
 
Aces: Storm- 3, Saints- 7 
Blocks: Storm- 4, Saints- 7
Assists: Storm- 34, Saints- 36
Digs: Storm- 39, Saints- 43
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Ni'yah Fuggs (8), Allison Kirch (8), Lexi Stooksbury (7)
Aces: Kennady Wiley (4), Nora Larson (1), Sophia McKenzie (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (2), Kennady Wiley (2), Lexi Stooksbury (2)
Assists: Jenna Sayles (17), Kylie Anderson (12), Bella Kessler (2)
Digs: Kylie Anderson (8), Bella Kessler (6), Nora Larson (5)
 
The Matchup
 
This was the first matchup between Lake Erie and St. Martin.
 
GAME TWO
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 4-3
Texas A&M-Kingsville: 5-1
 
Game Recap
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville- 3
Lake Erie- 1
 
Set 1: After teams exchanged to begin the set, the Javelinas quickly raced ahead, leaving the Storm behind getting out to a 9-4 lead. Kingsville would grow their lead to as much as 14 points and would take the set comfortably by a score of 25-12.  
 
Set 2: The teams would begin the set the same way as the first with teams exchanging points. The Javelinas would take a 9-5 lead after a 4-4 tie. The Storm would show life bringing the score to 12-11 after an ace from Kennady Wiley. Kingsville would answer with four straight points, growing their lead back to 16-11. Lake Erie would bring their deficit to 17-16 after kills from Gabrielle Jones and Rori Hanken. The Javelinas would take hold of the set by grabbing the last eight points, taking the set 25-16. 
 
Set 3: After a block from Lexi Stooksbury and Kennady Wiley to begin the set, the Javelinas would take the next six points for a 6-1 lead. The Storm would tie the set at 7 with kills from Wiley and Allison Kirch, an ace from Nicole Colombo and a block from Rori Hanken. Lake Erie would go ahead 14-10, taking advantage of errors and two aces from Kylie Anderson. The Storm would grow their lead to 24-17, highlighted by kills from Jones, Hanken, Kirch, and Sadie Nawrocki, and a block from Hanken and Jones. After Kingsville took the next three points, Wiley would secure a kill for the set at 25-20.
 
Set 4: After exchanging points, the Javelinas would grab momentum, growing their lead to 13-6. The Storm would cut their deficit to 15-10 after kills from Kirch and Ni'yah Fuggs. Kingsville would quickly race to the finish line by taking 10 of the next 11 points to take the set 25-11. 
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Kills: Storm- 35, Javelinas- 48
Attack Errors: Storm- 31, Javelinas- 17
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .031, Javelinas- .270
 
Aces: Storm- 4, Javelinas- 10 
Blocks: Storm- 6, Javelinas- 6
Assists: Storm- 31, Javelinas- 45
Digs: Storm- 45, Javelinas- 55
 
Top Storm Performers:
 
Kills: Kennady Wiley (8, *Career High*), Allison Kirch (8), Rori Hanken (7)
Aces: Kylie Anderson (2), Kennady Wiley (1), Nicole Colombo (1)
Blocks: Rori Hanken (3), Kennady Wiley (2), Gabrielle Jones (2)
Assists: Jenna Sayles (15), Kylie Anderson (10), Nora Larson (2)
Digs: Bella Kessler (12), Nicole Colombo (10, *Career High*), Allison Kirch (2)
 
The Matchup
 
This was the first matchup between Lake Erie and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
DAY THREE:
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 4-4
Southern Arkansas: 3-6
 
Game Recap
 
Southern Arkansas- 3
Lake Erie- 0
 
Set 1: The Muleriders would go ahead early 8-4. The Storm would respond with five straight points for a 9-4 lead with a kill from Gabrielle Jones and a block from Jones and Kennady Wiley. Southern Arkansas would answer with five points of their own to take the lead back to 13-9. Lake Erie would cut the deficit to 13-12 with kills from Wiley and Jasmine Heyward. The Muleriders would gain momentum and grow their lead to 21-16. Kills from Rori Hanken and Ni'yah Fuggs and a block from Fuggs would not be enough as Southern Arkansas would take the set 25-20.  
 
Set 2: The Muleriders would continue their momentum from the first to grab an early 11-4 lead. The Storm would cut their deficit to 12-8 with a kill from Wiley. Lake Erie would then cut their deficit to two points with the score at 20-18 after a kill from Hanken and a block from Wiley and Jones. Southern Arkansas would hold for the set with a score of 25-20.
 
Set 3: The Muleriders would go ahead early 10-1. Southern Arkansas would continue to pile it on as they grew their lead all the way to 21-3. Highlights for the set include kills from Wiley, Heyward, and Jocelyn Rogers and a block from Jones and Wiley, but the Muleriders would comfortably take the set 25-8. 
 
The Matchup
 
This was the first matchup between Lake Erie and Southern Arkansas.
 
Up Next
 
Lake Erie begins G-MAC play on the road against Ashland University on Friday, September 19th at 6 p.m. 
 
Ashland is currently 4-1 to begin the season, highlighted by wins against IUP, Daemen, and Flagler, all of whom made the NCAA tournament last season. In 2024, the Eagles finished 19-11 and 12-4 in the G-MAC. In the 2025 preseason poll, the Eagles were picked to finish 1st in the G-MAC East division.