Dec. 6, 2002

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Canyon, Texas -

Grand Valley State ended their season in the NCAA Semifinal after falling to Truman State 3-1 on Friday evening in Canyon, Texas. Grand Valley State dropped the first two games of their semifinal contest versus Truman State by scores of 30-27 and 31-29 but maintained composure to pull out game three 30-26 on Friday in Canyon, Texas. Truman State then pulled off game four 30-22. The Lakers end the season with a school best 32-3 record.

The first two games of the contest looked very similar as both were very close contests with neither team taking a commanding lead and Truman State running off the final three points of each game to earn the win. GVSU maintained the lead throughout all of game three to remain in the contest, but Truman State made a 10-5 run in the middle of game four to take control and earn the win.

The match opened with an intense first game that Truman ended up finishing off 30-27. The two teams went back and forth to start and were tied 5-5 after the first 10 points. Truman made the first run of the match opening up a 12-7 lead but GVSU answered back with four straight points. The Lakers finally tied the score at 14-14 and again the two teams traded points as neither team led by more than two until Truman rolled off the final three points of the game to earn the 30-27 victory.

GVSU jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in game two but it did not last long as the Bulldogs fought right back and tied the score at 10. The teams again battled with neither team leading by more than two until the Lakers went on a 7-1 run to take a 23-19 lead. But again Truman State responded this time with an 8-3 run to regain the lead by one. GVSU did not give up and took the lead to earn a game point at 29-28, but were unable to convert. Truman responded with the next three points to take the game 31-29.

GVSU led by as many as six in the third game but Truman State battled back to cut the lead to 26-25 in the closing of the game. After a timeout by head coach Deanne Scanlon, GVSU went on a 4-1 run to make the score 2 games to 1. Game four was more of the same with both teams working for every point. The score was tied at 15-15 when the Bulldogs started their run that eventually turned in to the eight point final advantage.

Senior Carly Miller finished her All-American playing career with a double-double leading the Lakers with 18 kills and 10 digs. Sabrina Bird and Tracy Kirk recorded 10 kills apiece and tallied 8 and 5 blocks, respectively. Senior Traci Skrzypek led GVSU with 13 digs, while Chara Fehsenfeld added 9 kills and 9 digs. The Lakers recorded 13 team total blocks but only hit .185 for the match.

The 2002 squad's .914 winning percentage sets a new GVSU record and the four Laker seniors, Miller, Skrzypek, Fehsenfeld, and Lisa Cramer, finish their career at GVSU with the best four year record in school history at 119-19 (.862).