The Lakers traveled to Wahpeton, North Dakota to compete in the Bell Bank Invite at NDSCS. The Lakers opened the tournament with a tough four set loss to at the time undefeated Bismarck State, 14-25, 25-21,14-25, 19-25; and finished Friday night with a three set win of Lake Region State College 25-21, 25-23, 25-16. "We started the tournament against a Bismarck State team who had just upset NDSCS in a conference match and were playing with loads of confidence. They made a lot of good plays to put us on our heels, but I was happy with the girls battle and heart. In our second match of the day we played Lake Region State and didn't really max out our potential. We still took home the win and got lots of things to work on from Friday night" said Coach Erdman. Against Bismarck the offense was led by Kenzie Lee with 12 kills hitting .250, and Lily Kunselman with 10 kills hitting .059; with Jordan Grimes commanding the offense with 29 digs. The defense side of the ball saw a strong performance by Lily Kunselman with 21 digs, Lorin Turkdogan with 19 digs and MaKenzie Uribe with 15 digs. Lily Kunselman's double double was a very strong performance for her against a solid opponent. The second match had Kenzie Lee at the top of the kill board with 15 kills hitting .080 and Morgan Wigg with 10 Kills hitting a whooping .692. Jordan Grimes dished out 24 assists. The defensive side of the ball was very strong again with the same three trio; Lorin Turkdogan with 16 digs, MaKenzie Uribe with 11 and Lily Kunselman with 10. The Lakers also passed a 2.2 Rating as a team which was a huge contributing factor to success. 

Day 2 saw the Lakers facing off against host NDSCS, who is ranked #19 in the country followed by NCAA Division 3 JV Concordia College. NDSCS looked very strong and took care of the Lakers 12-25, 16-25, and 18-25. The second match turned out the Lakers way with a four set win over Concordia College, 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 25-18. In the Concordia match the offense was lead by a booming performance by Kenzie Lee with 20 Kills hitting .388, followed by Morgan Wigg with 10 kills hitting .318. Jordan Grimes had 40 assists to run the offense. The backrow was putting in the work with leaders Lorin Turkdogan 29 digs, Lily Kunselman 24 digs, Jordan Grimes 18 digs, MaKenzie Uribe 14 digs and Maria Fernanda Sanchez with 13 digs. The team passed a 2.1 rating against the Cobbers a great contributor to success. "We came out flat against NDSCS and they came out hot. We worked our way up each set but couldn't answer their quick offense and strong outside hitters. Against the Cobbers we had a lot more success. Offense was firing well, defense and serve pass as well. We still had some mental mistakes to clean up, but the tactical and technical portion of the game went really well" said Coach Erdman.

"For the tournament there were an extreme amount of positives. I am super happy with some of the changes this team has been making throughout the season and looking forward to where they end up. For me and the girls it can be frustrating losing matches, but we have played a very strong schedule and have competed in almost every set." Erdman's closing thoughts.

Weekend Stat Leaders: Kills: Kenzie Lee 53 Kills on .215, Lily Kunselman 28 kills on .018, Morgan Wigg 26 kills on .242, Kajsa Bates 22 kills on .164, and Hailey Shequen 19 kills on -.010; Assists: Jordan Grimes 115; Aces: Lily Kunselman 6, Makenzie Uribe, Lorin Turkdogan, Jordan Grimes and Hailey Shequen with 3 of their own; Digs: Lorin Turkdogan 74, Lily Kunselman 59, MaKenzie Uribe 46, Jordan Grimes 33, and Maria Fernanda Sanchez with 29; Blocks: Morgan Wigg 10, Kenzie Lee 6, Jordan Grimes 5, Hailey Shequen 4, and Kajsa Bates 3

The Lakers are 5-13 and 1-1 in conference. On Wednesday, September 18th the Lakers will travel to Cedar Rapids, IA to take on #4 Ranked Kirkwood at 6:30 pm. The Lakers look to find a way to upset the big dog of the ICCAC.

MEDIA: Photo of Kenzie Lee: For more information, please contact Head Women's Volleyball Coach Nick Erdman at (712) 362-8375 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.