Nov. 3, 2006

Box Score

#5 Grand Valley State swept Ferris State, 3-0 (30-22, 30-18, 30-19) in the first semifinal match of the GLIAC Tournament Friday night. The Lakers improve to 26-2 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 21-8. GVSU will play #4 seed Ashland in the championship match, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Jesse Philips Arena in Hillsdale, Mich. Ashland knocked off host school Hillsdale, 3-0 in the other semifinal match.

The two teams battled back and forth in game one, tying it for the eighth time at 13-13. GVSU then went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-13 lead. Ferris State cut the Laker lead to four points, but couldn't get any closer as GVSU sealed the 30-22 win on an ace by junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander.

Game two started off close again with the score tied at 7-7, but GVSU got hot quickly and to take a six point lead, 15-9. Grand Valley went on a run to take a 22-12 lead and never looked back. The Lakers scored the final four poinst to win game two, 30-18. GVSU hit .438 as a team, while FSU hit just .148.

Grand Valley closed out the match dominating game three. GVSU hit .567 as a team in the final game, tallying 19 kills. Ferris State hit just .048 and recorded just seven kills. Grand Valley jumped out to an early seven point lead, 14-7 and quickly increased it to 21-12. GVSU scored four straight points to make the score, 27-17 and then tallied three out of the next five points to win the game, 30-19.

The Lakers hit .406 as a team in the match, while the Bulldogs posted a .117 hitting percentage. GVSU tallied 25 more kills, six more service aces, and two more blocks than Ferris State. The Lakers have won all three matches against the Bulldogs this season.

Senior middle blocker Meghan Moore tallied a match-high 16 kills, two aces, six digs, and two assisted blocks, while hitting .520 on the night. Senior outside hitter Megan Helsen added 10 kills, two aces, and four digs, while sophomore middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded eight kills, three aces, and hit .375. Junior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple posted eight kills and a .500 attack percentage, while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Reber added five kills. Sophomore setter Jamie Ashmore tallied six kills, 37 assists, one ace, six digs, and hit .750. Junior libero Alyson Riley recorded 11 digs and an ace.