Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score

#7 Grand Valley State knocked off Northern Michigan, 3-0 (30-18, 30-19, 30-21) in the second semifinal match of the GLIAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Lakers improve to 29-3, while Northern Michigan falls to 20-12. Grand Valley advances to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match against Hillsdale on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 4:00 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

Northern Michigan took an early 5-3 lead, but the Lakers tied the game at 6-6 and then went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-6 lead. The Lakers pushed their lead to 10 points, 20-10, but the closest NMU would come the rest of the game is eight points. GVSU went ahead 27-18 and scored the next three points to win game one, 30-18.

The Lakers jumped out early in game two, going up, 7-1. GVSU pushed its lead to 12-4 and then went up 19-12. Grand Valley went on a 5-0 run to take a 24-12 lead. Northern Michigan came within 10 points, but couldn't hold off the Lakers as they won game two, 30-19.

Northern Michigan came out hot in game three, taking an 8-4 lead, but the Lakers went on a 5-1 run to tie the game at 9-9. The Lakers took its first lead of the game at 10-9 and then went up by three points, 13-10. GVSU pushed its lead to five points, 19-14, before NMU cut it to 20-17. The Lakers rattled off the next five points to go up, 25-17. Grand Valley went ahead, 26-21 and closed out the game with a 4-0 run to win, 30-21.

Grand Valley State hit an outstanding .366 as a team, while Northern Michigan hit just .103. The Lakers recorded 18 more kills, five more aces, and five more blocks in the match.

Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple tallied a team-high 13 kills, four aces, three assisted blocks, three assists, while hitting .542. Freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin posted 10 kills, two solo and two assisted blocks and hit .833. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber recorded seven kills and nine digs and junior setter Jamie Ashmore added 31 assists, eight digs, and seven kills. Sophomore outside hitter Meredith Young posted 12 digs and five kills, while senior libero Allyson Riley had 16 digs.

Grand Valley advances to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match against Hillsdale on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 4:00 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The GLIAC Tournament began in 1995 and Grand Valley State has made the tournament every year except 1996. The Lakers have claimed the GLIAC Tournament title three times (2000, 2002, and 2005).