Lake Superior State Director of Athletics Dr. Dave Diles has been notified of the resignation of LSSU women's volleyball head coach Dave Schmidlin. Schmidlin announced his resignation following five seasons as the head coach of the Laker volleyball team after being hired in March 2017. Read more. 

Lake Superior State men's cross country runner David Mitter finished 83rd out of 245 finishers at the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 20 at The Abbey Course in Saint Leo, Fla. The Howell, Mich. native crossed the finish line with a time of 32:16.4 for an 83rd place finish among the top distance runners in the nation. Mitter had a strong start to the race as he held the 37th place spot at the 1.3k mark with a time of 3:46.9, and remained in the top 50 runners through the first 4.3k (13:07.7). By the 8k point of the race, Mitter held a spot in the top third of finishers (72nd) with a time of 25:30.6. Read more.

Louis Boudon, Jacob Bengtsson, and Josh Nixon have each received Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Player of the Month honors as announced by conference officials on Wednesday, Nov. 3 for their play during the month of October. Boudon has been named CCHA Forward of the Month, Bengtsson has been named CCHA Defenseman of the Month, and Nixon has been named CCHA Rookie of the Month. Read more.

Lake Superior State women's volleyball senior middle hitter Camdyn Odykirk has been named to the 2021-22 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team, as announced by conference officials on Saturday, Nov. 20. Odykirk was a leader on-and-off the court for the Lakers this season as she competed in her final collegiate season for LSSU this fall. The middle hitter from Mount Pleasant, Mich. led the Lakers in kills (165), and hitting percentage (.189) this season while ranking second on the team in kills per set (1.92). In addition, Odykirk led the Lakers in block solos (17) and block assists (41). Her 58 total blocks led the Lakers and ranked 14th among all conference players in the category. Her 17 block solos was tied for third in the GLIAC. Odykirk played in all 26 matches for the Lakers this season. Read more.

Last season, the Lakers played a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the abbreviated schedule, the Lakers combined for an 8-11 record, which led the team to an eighth place finish in the GLIAC. LSSU averaged 73.8 points per game on a 45.4 field goal percentage. The team finished the season with 34.6 three-point percentage, and averaged 32.4 rebounds per game during the 19 game season. 

For their play during the 2020-21 season, junior forward Kemon Bassett was named First Team All-GLIAC, redshirt senior guard Malek Adams was named Second Team All-GLIAC and junior guard C.J. Robinson was named to the All-GLIAC Defensive Team.

Preparing for the New Season

The Lakers are led by Steve Hettinga, the all-time winningest coach in Laker Basketball history, who enters his 15th season in the role. Assistant coach Ted Stowe returns for his fifth season in the role on Hettinga's staff. 

The Lakers will be led by a strong senior class which includes returners Kemon Bassett, Malek Adams, C.J. Robinson, David Wren, Justin Fischer and transfer Caden Ebeling, who joins the Lakers after a solid career at Albion College. Hettinga will look to this group's leadership on-and-off the court this season. 

Lake Superior State will also be returning a junior class of Dan Few and Xander Okerlund as well as sophomores Blake Cassidy and Andy Soma. 

Hettinga's squad will welcome a large freshman class this season with seven student-athletes joining the Lakers. The freshman class includes three players from Ann Arbor Huron High School (Tyson Edmondson, Kingsley Perkins and Devin Womack) who will look to build on their chemistry and success from their high school careers at the collegiate level. The remaining first-year players include Drew Hess, a 6-2 guard from Oscoda, Mich., Ben Patrick, a 6-2 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., Kendall Smith, a 6-8 forward from Muskegon, Mich., and Hunter Soper, a 6-6 forward/guard from Lexington, Mich.

Last season, the Lakers played a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the abbreviated schedule, the Lakers combined for an 1-18 record, which led the team to a 12th place finish in the GLIAC. LSSU averaged 57.3 points per game on a 36.6 field goal percentage. The team finished the season with 27.2 three-point percentage, and averaged 31.1 rebounds per game during the 19 game season. 

For her play during the 2020-21 season, sophomore forward Mattison Rayman was named Second Team All-GLIAC. Rayman led the Lakers in her second season with the team with 13.3 points per game on a 47.0 shooting percentage. At the close of the GLIAC regular season, Rayman ranked ninth in the conference in points per game. Her 7.4 rebounds per game, which included 5.1 defensive rebounds per game, led the Lakers and was fourth best in the GLIAC.

Preparing for the New Season

The Lakers are led by Brandon Lokken, who enters his fifth season in the role, while assistant coach Allison Todd begins her third season with the Lakers. 

The team will look to a number of upperclassmen to help lead the Lakers after coming off a challenging 2020-21 season as the team felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Junior forward Mattison Rayman will be the driving force behind the Lakers after coming off a great sophomore season. Senior forward Makenzie Bray will be looked upon by Coach Lokken after a solid season for the Lakers last year while junior guard Margot Woughter will play a big role for the Lakers after missing most of last season with an injury. 

Lake Superior State will also look for contributions from sophomore guard Jaden Wilder, sophomore guard Jozie Bontrager, and junior guard Carson Nitz. The team will have one newcomer this season, CeCe Hacker, a freshman guard from Omaha, Neb. Hacker is coming off a senior season where she averaged 15.3 points per game on a 42.0 shooting percentage and received Second Team All-State honors. 

All three Laker ACHA Hockey teams (Women D2, Men's D2, and Men's D3) recently hosted opponents at Taffy Abel and competed tough. The women's team remains undefeated after 12 games into the season and is ranked #1 in the central region, with our players top 10 in goals and points in division 2 . The Laker Pep Band adopted the new tradition of marching through campus (from the Art Center to Taffy Abel) which sets the tone for an entertaining evening starting at warm ups and ending the night performing at the bell ringing. Band and Club Hockey Alumni Weekend is January 28-30, 2022. Please contact Ruthann Cantile at 906-635-2016 for more information about Alumni Weekend.