Program Spotlight: Grand Valley State
Program Spotlight: Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State had opened their season in impressive fashion.
Having beaten Great Midwest team Loyola in emphatic fashion the Lakers followed that with two wins this weekend. GVSU beat Notre Dame's 2nds in a close one, and then won their conference game over Calvin College 70-7.
"We got a good team effort in both games," said Head Coach John Mullett.
Mullett fielded a a less experienced side against Calvin, and so while GVSU anticipated that the Notre Dame would be perhaps more challenging, the Calvin match was a league game and so arguably more important.
Against Cavbin scrumhalf Auggie Ripple and Noah Richardson at flyhalf were very good, Mullett describing them as "very steady and opportunistic."
Flyhalf Reinhardt Stipp continues his excellent run of form and making life difficult for the opposition. Against Notre Dame is was his kicking for territory, and his elusiveness that caused the Irish 2nd side trouble. Scrumhalf Calvin Schwandt was consistent and accurate, while Drew Baine made several long gains at wing.
"My flankers Alex Jones and Carter Kraft seem tireless; it's almost robotic with how reliable they are," added Mullett.
With those two providing a massive work rate and with captain Andrew Laskowski doing the unglamorous things and leading by example, the Lakers are in good hands.
"He quietly does everything that others do not do," said Mullett. "He can go it all, ugly, dirty, responsible, and gritty. Every good team needs a Lasko."
They are backed up by plenty of other talent, including big forward (6-5, over 350 pounds) John Kelley who is the personification of go-forward.
"We were ready to challenge anybody," said Mullett, but he said to get to the top the talent needs to embrace the commitment and the ental toughness needed to perform in the postseason.
And that is the issue with teams that are winning their conferences by wide margins. Coaches can continue to talk about the standard, but being disciplined and accurate in the face of large-margin victories is difficult. Several conferences have someone that already seems to be running away with it—Great Midwest (UNI), Gateway (SLU), Allegheny (IUP), and SCRC (Memphis), and Cardinals (UVA)—and several of those have found the discipline to perform at championship time.
This is a young GVSU team, too, but they will see Laskowski graduate in the spring, so they will also need some leadership to step forward.
"The future," said Muellett, "is bright."
The present? We'll see.
