NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Lake Erie Volleyball team began their 2025 season at the Hall of Fame City Challenge for a two-day tournament against the Point Park Pioneers, Lock Haven Bald Eagles, and California (Pa.) Vulcans. On day one, the Storm faced the Pioneers. On day two, the Storm faced the Bald Eagles in game one, followed by facing the Vulcans in game two. Lake Erie finished the tournament with a 2-1 record.
Team Records
Lake Erie: 1-0
Point Park: 0-2
DAY ONE:
Game Recap
Set 1: The Storm and Pioneers would each exchange three points each to open the set at 3-3. Lake Erie would take five of the next seven points for an 8-5 with kills from
Sadie Nawrocki,
Kennedy Stewart, and
Allison Kirch. After Point Park would bring the score back to within one, the Storm would take four of the next five points, growing their lead to 12-8 with a kill from
Gabrielle Jones and a block from Stewart and Jones. Lake Erie would grow their lead to 18-12 highlighted by two blocks from Jones and
Kennady Wiley. The Pioneers would bring their deficit to within three at 21-18. The Storm would close out the set with kills from Nawrocki and
Jasmine Heyward and take the set by a score of 25-19.
Set 2: After a back-and-forth beginning of the set, the Storm would begin to put the set away, With Lake Erie and Point Park tied at 10-10, Lake Erie would take six of the next seven points for a 16-11 lead, taking advantage of Point Park miscues, along with a kill from
Ni'yah Fuggs and solo blocks from Fuggs and Heyward. After the Pioneers would take the next two points, the Storm would grow their lead to 21-14 with kills from Wiley, Nawrocki, Kirch, and
Cecelia Mullen. Lake Erie would finish off the set with an ace from
Jenna Sayles, taking the set by a score of 25-16.
Set 3: After the Storm opened up the set with a 6-4 lead, the Pioneers would take the next five points and take their biggest lead of the match at 9-6. Lake Erie would quickly erase the deficit taking the next four points, retaking the lead 10-9. With Point Park holding a 12-11 lead, the Storm would take the next four points for a 15-12 lead, with kills from Stewart and Kirch and two aces from Sayles. The Pioneers would keep fighting, cutting their deficit to 16-15. Lake Erie would start gaining momentum with the score going to 23-17 with kills from Heyward, Wiley, and
Kylie Anderson, along with a solo block from Heyward and an ace from Mullen. After Point Park cut their deficit to 24-21, Stewart would seal the game with a kill for a 25-21 victory.
Key Team Stats:
Kills: Storm- 39, Pioneers- 34
Attack Errors: Storm- 12, Pioneers- 20
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .321, Pioneers- .149
Aces: Storm- 7, Pioneers- 1
Blocks: Storm- 8, Pioneers- 3
Assists: Storm- 35, Pioneers- 27
Digs: Storm- 31, Pioneers- 29
Top Storm Performers:
Kills: Sadie Nawrocki (9), Allison Kirch (9), Jasmine Heyward (6)
Aces: Jenna Sayles (5), Cecelia Mullen (2)
Blocks: Kennedy Stewart (3), Gabrielle Jones (3), Jasmine Heyward (2)
Assists: Kylie Anderson (16), Jenna Sayles (13), Bella Kessler (5)
Digs: Allison Kirch (8), Kylie Anderson (6), Bella Kessler (5)
The Matchup
After a 14-year layoff from 2009-2023, Lake Erie has won consecutive games against Point Park in back-to-back seasons, bringing their all-time record against the Pioneers to 2-3.
DAY TWO:
GAME ONE
Team Records
Lake Erie: 2-0
Lock Haven: 0-3
Game Recap
Set 1: The Bald Eagles would fly out ahead early, taking 11 of the first 12 points of the set for an 11-1 lead. Lock Haven would then grow their lead to 15-3. The Storm responded taking seven straight points, cutting the deficit to 15-10 with kills from
Kennedy Stewart,
Bella Kessler, and
Allison Kirch, a block from Stewart and
Sadie Nawrocki, two aces from
Sophia McKenzie. The Bald Eagles would again go on another scoring run, taking seven of eight points bringing the score to 24-13. Lake Erie would make things interesting taking the next four points with kills from McKenzie and
Ni'yah Fuggs, and an ace from
Kennady Wiley, but Lock Haven would hold on by the score of 25-17.
Set 2: After a back-and-forth beginning of the set, the Storm would go on a 4-0 run to take a 10-5 lead, with a kill from Kirch and an ace from
Cecelia Mullen. The Bald Eagles would find their footing and take a 15-14 lead. After Lake Erie grabbed an 18-17 lead, Lock Haven would take the next five points for a 22-18 lead. The Storm would then take the next six points, taking advantage of multiple Bald Eagles errors for a 24-22 lead. After Lock Haven would force extra points, a kill from Nawrocki and an ace from Kirch would give Lake Erie the set with a score of 26-24.
Set 3: After the Storm opened up the set with a 6-4 lead, the Bald Eagles would steadily grab the lead by scores of 12-8 and 15-10, eventually growing to 18-11. With the score at 21-15, Lake Erie would cut the deficit to 21-19 with kills from McKenzie and Kirch, and a block from Stewart. After Lock Haven brought the score to 23-20, the Storm would take the final five points with a kill from
Gabrielle Jones and a block from Kirch, along with Lock Haven errors, taking the set 25-20.
Set 4: After exchanging points, the Bald Eagles would have the lead at 15-11. The Storm would answer back with five straight points and take the lead 16-15 with kills from Wiley and Kirch. After Lock Haven tied the set at 21, the teams would exchange points. With the score tied at 23, Lake Erie would take the next two points on a Kirch kill and a Bald Eagles error and win the game by a score of 25-23.
Key Team Stats:
Kills: Storm- 38, Bald Eagles- 42
Attack Errors: Storm- 28, Bald Eagles- 29
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .083, Bald Eagles- .097
Aces: Storm- 7, Bald Eagles- 10
Blocks: Storm- 4, Bald Eagles- 8
Assists: Storm- 33, Bald Eagles- 36
Digs: Storm- 46, Bald Eagles- 45
Top Storm Performers:
Kills: Allison Kirch (14), Sadie Nawrocki (6), Sophia McKenzie (6)
Aces: Sophia McKenzie (4), Kennady Wiley (1), Allison Kirch (1)
Blocks: Kennedy Stewart (5), Sadie Nawrocki (2), Kennady Wiley (1)
Assists: Kylie Anderson (15), Jenna Sayles (13), Bella Kessler (2)
Digs: Allison Kirch (11), Jenna Sayles (9), Sophia McKenzie (9)
The Matchup
Lake Erie has won consecutive matches against Lock Haven, bringing their record to 2-1 all-time. Lake Erie and Lock Haven last played in 2022 and their first matchup was in 2014.
GAME TWO
Team Records
Lake Erie: 2-1
California (Pa.): 3-0
Game Recap
Set 1: The Vulcans would jump out early and grow their lead to 16-7. After the Storm took the next three points, Cal U would answer back with three of their. Lake Erie would bring their deficit down to five points with the score at 22-17 with a kill from
Allison Kirch an ace from
Kennady Wiley, and a block from
Lexi Stooksbury and
Kennedy Stewart. Kills from Kirch and
Sadie Nawrocki would not be enough as the Vulcans would take the set 25-20.
Set 2: The Vulcans would grab early momentum, taking a 9-4 lead. The Storm quickly erased their deficit, tying the set a 9 with a block from Kirch and Stewart, and a kill from Nawrocki, assisted by
Kylie Anderson. After Cal U took a 17-15 lead, Lake Erie would go on a 5-0 run with an ace from
Cecelia Mullen and a kill from Kirch for a 22-17 lead. The Storm would close the set with kills from Kirch, Stooksbury, and
Sophia McKenzie, taking the set 25-21.
Set 3: The Vulcans began the set taking the first five points. The Storm would cut their deficit to one with kills from Nawrocki and Stooksbury, bringing the score to 10-9. Cal U would gain momentum bringing the score to 16-11. Lake Erie would tie the set at 21 after a kill and block from McKenzie. The Vulcans would take four of the next five points and take the set by a score of 25-22.
Set 4: After exchanging points, the Vulcans would grab momentum first with three straight points and take a 10-7 lead. The Storm would grab the momentum and take a 15-13 lead, highlighted by kills from Nawrocki,
Jenna Sayles, and
Nora Larson, along with a block from Nawrocki. Cal U would take 12 of the next 13 points and close out the game with a 25-16 victory.
Key Team Stats:
Kills: Storm- 54, Vulcans- 57
Attack Errors: Storm- 27, Vulcans- 19
Attempts: Storm- 157, Vulcans- 164
Hitting Percentage: Storm- .172, Vulcans- .232
Aces: Storm- 5, Vulcans- 5
Blocks: Storm- 8, Vulcans- 9
Assists: Storm- 52, Vulcans- 54
Digs: Storm- 67, Vulcans- 66
Top Storm Performers:
Kills: Allison Kirch (15), Lexi Stooksbury (13), Sadie Nawrocki (11)
Aces: Cecelia Mullen (2), Sophia McKenzie (2), Kennady Wiley (1)
Blocks: Kennady Wiley (2), Kennedy Stewart (2), Sadie Nawrocki (2)
Assists: Jenna Sayles (25), Dylan Fox (11), Kylie Anderson (7)
Digs: Cecelia Mullen (25, *Career High*), Allison Kirch (13), Jenna Sayles (7)
The Matchup
Lake Erie has now lost four consecutive matches to California (Pa.) and bring their all-time record to 1-5. Lake Erie's last win was a four-set victory in 2014.
Up Next
Lake Erie will host their home opener against Central State University on Tuesday, September 9th at 6 p.m.
Central State is currently 1-1 to begin the season.
