The Lakeland volleyball team took the court on day 2 at the Owens Invitational against the Henry Ford Hawks and came away with a 3-1 victory. The scores of the games were 11-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-11. The Lakers started slowly as the Hawks took advantage of early Laker miscues. After game 1, the Lakers came together and made several hustle plays to extend rallies and took advantage of excellent serves to help them go on several runs and pick up the victory.

Astianna Coppes had a strong game recording 14 assists, 7 kills, 8 digs, and 2 aces. Kaitlynn Minarik contributed all around with 13 digs, 6 kills, and 4 aces while Erica Merth helped control the net with 9 kills and 4 blocks. Tory Leck added 10 digs and an ace while Allison Hendrick finished with 13 assists and 4 digs.

The Lakers faced Southwest Michigan in the nightcap and dropped a 3-0 decision by the scores of 25-12, 25-11, and 25-13. The Lakers committed several unforced errors in this match and committed many hitting errors which helped SW Michigan to the win. Astianna Coppes finished the match with 6 assists and 7 digs while Erica Merth finished with 4 kills and 1 block.

The Lakeland players of the tournament were Kaitlynn Minarik and Arion Brown. Jordan Morman was named honorable mention.

Watt's Words: After game 1, "We lost the first set playing as individuals. We woke up and changed our narrative the rest of the way. We made some great hustle plays and served well - it gave us a lot of energy. We're growing as a team." After game 2, "We made some mistakes that we weren't able to recover from. Overall, we have a lot of things to work on. We need to go back and focus on the fundamentals and the art of hustling for a ball. We can do it. We have all of the makings to be a great team. Consistency is the key."

Next Up:  The Lakers will finally return home on Wednesday (9/6) as they face off against Kent State Tuscarawas. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm.