BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - The Hawks season came to a close on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 5) at the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament, falling to the two-seeded Lakers of Grand Valley State in five sets (18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 11-15) to close out a third-straight NCAA tourney appearance and end the year with a 25-6 record. 

Luna Van Baars led all players with 25 kills, besting her previous career mark of 15 kills on the biggest stage, helping keep the Hawks in the mix until the very end. 

With seven kills in the match, Emma Wijnbergen tied the QU all-time career kills record of 1678, bringing a fitting close to a historic four years in Quincy for the senior, right side hitter. 

Set One 

QU got off on the right foot, taking a 3-1 advantage after surrenduring the first point on a kill from Susanna Beretti and a kill and block for Erin Matzke. GVSU responded with a pair of three point runs along with a two point run to move ahead 9-5. 

The Hawks hung tough, sticking within a couple of points until a five point Lakers run put Grand Valley in prime position, leading 21-14 heading down the stretch before going on to claim the first set 25-18. 

Set Two

Quincy doubled up GVSU to a 6-3 score to open the set and maintained a small advantage until later in the set at 8-6 where a pair of two point QU runs pressed the edge to 12-7. 

Shortly after, Grand Valley narrowed the margin back to a single point at 16-15, before a four point Hawks run shortly after put Quincy in a good spot, leading 21-16. QU went on to take the set 25-20 on a Wijnbergen kill to even the match at a set apiece. 

Set Three

GVSU clung to a slight 8-7 advantage after the first 15 points of the set before busting out runs of five and six points to move ahead 19-9. Moments later at 20-11, the Hawks went on a game-changing run, taking 10 points in a row to erase the deficit and press ahead 21-10 heading in into crunch time with six of those points coming on Van Baars kills. 

The Lakers took three of the next five to even the tally at 23-23 before a Zeynep Cetin block and Van Baars ace closed the book on an incredible 25-23 comeback win in the third set. 

Set Four 

After surrendering the first six points of the set, Quincy worked it's way back to within two at 10-8 until a GVSU run of four replenished the advantage to 14-8. 

QU never crept closer than five points for the remainder of the set as GVSU went on to take the frame 25-14 and force a decisive fifth set. 

Set Five 

Two Lakers errors and kills from Van Baars and Wijnbergen worked the Hawks into a 4-4 tie to open the set. Shortly after, Grand Valley runs of two and four points found QU in a tough spot down 11-6 in the race to 15. 

Quincy took four of the next five on kills from Beretti, Van Baars and Wijnbergen along with an error to move back within striking distance at 12-10, but it wasn't meant to be as three of the final four points went to GVSU to give the Lakers the 15-11 set and 3-2 match victory. 

As the season comes to a close, QU will look to build on a 67-15 record and consecutive NCAA tourney appearances over the last three years with another strong showing in the 2025 campaign. 

Stat Leaders: 
25 Kills - Luna Van Baars
46 Assists, 2 Aces - Elena Kasavica
3 Blocks - Erin Matzke
2 Aces - Susanna Beretti
20 Digs, 2 Aces - Janelle Pye-Blacknard