The Grand Valley Water Polo Club started its 2004 campaign by traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee to participate in “The Hillbilly Classic.” The Lakers season and weekend started out on a positive note with a commanding 16-2 victory over Auburn’s B-Team. The good fortune of the Lakers soon ran dry in their second game. The Lakers faced Dynamo, a Masters League team out of Georgia. Dynamo kept up with the Lakers strong counter-attack and despite the tough effort from sophomore goaltender, Kirk Kauffman, the Lakers dropped the contest 5-3. This loss proved to be a turning point in the weekend. The Lakers showed perseverance in their next two games. Grand Valley went on to handily defeat Miami(OH) 14-8, behind an offensive explosion by sophomore Matt Leskovar and senior goaltender Joe Ahrendt, shutting down the Red Hawks offense. Grand Valley then went on to defeat Georgia Tech 8-4 in Sunday’s contest and finished with a respectable tournament record of 3-1. The Lakers hope to improve on this past weekend’s efforts as they travel to East Lansing this weekend to participate in the “Spartan Invitational.”