Box Score For the Saturday afternoon matinee, your PNW Pride hosted the Lake Superior State University Lakers. The first set saw a tough defensive battle as the Pride were held to a .067 hitting percentage but in turn held the Lakers to a .091 hitting percentage. A few key plays made the difference in the end as the Pride took the first set 25-23. The second set had the Pride rolling so a 19-10 lead. But the Lakers turned up their service game and went on an 8-point run bringing the score to 20-18 after a Pride side out. The Pride answered with a run of their own to go to set point 24-20. But again, the Lakers answered back with another run and took it to set point 25-24. After a side out and back-to-back missed serves from the Lakers, the Pride survived set two 28-26. In set three, the Pride looked to close out the Lakers with a sweep, but Lake State had other plans. The Lakers pounded out 14 kills and survived a late run from the Pride 22-25. In the final set, the Pride wouldn't be denied. The 4th set featured zero ties and zero lead changes as the Pride lead from start to finish 25-15. This match marked the first GLIAC win for the Pride since 2017 taking their record to 6-4, 1-1. Next weekend the Pride host two GLIAC matches on John Friend court with Grand Valley State on Friday at 7:00 pm and Saturday at 2:00 pm against Saginaw Valley State.
The Pride had several standouts with their first GLIAC win. Freshman Arra Cottrell (LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) had a standout match with 14 kills with only 2 blocks, but those 2 blocks came at crucial times for the Pride. Bryanna Moonen (Franklin, Wis./Franklin HS) got the start today and took full advantage with 10 kills with a lot of those happening at times when PNW needed it most. Marina Gronkiewicz (Munster, Ind./Munster) had 16 assists but also brought a team high 17 digs. Lauren Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Avon HS) and Summer Clark (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Christian HS) brought another 8 kills apiece to round out the offense presence.
Quote from Coach Sean Douglas: "Unbelievable night for our team. Lake State did an excellent job at the net today and made us really elevate our play and be scrappy just to earn points. With the great numbers Lauren Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Avon HS) has been putting up, the Lakers made sure they had two up on her at all times, so we needed someone to step up today and I thought our two right sides, Bry Moonen and Arra Cottrell (LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley), stepped up today. We had some patches where our offense struggled but I was really proud of the way the girls made plays when we had to have them. Today was a huge win for us but there is a lot of season left and we need to make sure we keep improving in the serve and pass area to keep up with all of the great teams in our conference."
