Nov. 15, 2007

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#6 Grand Valley State swept Charleston, 3-0 (30-20, 30-26, 30-17) in the fourth match of the quarterfinals on Thursday in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers (31-3) advance to the semifinals and will play #13 SIUE on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Charleston ends its season with a 28-12 overall record.

Charleston jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one and then pushed its lead to 10-4. The Lakers went on an 11-1 run to take a 15-11 lead, their first of the game. Charleston cut the lead to 21-16, but the Lakers scored the next four straight points to take a 25-16 lead. The Golden Eagles trailed 26-18 and GVSU rattled off the next three points to go up, 29-18. Charleston scored the next two points, but the Lakers closed out the game, 30-20, on the next point.

Grand Valley State went up 3-0 in the second game, but the Golden Eagles tied the game at 7-7. Charleston took a 15-12 lead, but GVSU came back to tie the game at 19-19. The two teams went back and forth and tied the game at 22-22 and 23-23, but then the Lakers went on a 4-0 run to take a 27-23 lead. GVSU scored the next three out of six points to take game two, 30-26.

Game three started off close as the two team tied the score nine times before it was 11-11. The Lakers then went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-11 lead. Charleston trailed 21-14, but GVSU rattled off five straight points to go up, 26-14. The Golden Eagles scored the next two points, but the Lakers scored the next three to go up, 29-16. GVSU closed out the game and the match two points later, taking game three, 30-17.

Grand Valley State hit .333 as a team and posted 50 kills and six service aces. Charleston had 36 kills, three aces, and hit .219 as a team.

Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple recorded 12 kills and hit .476 for the Lakers. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber posted 11 kills, seven digs, four assists, three aces, and two assisted blocks as she hit .625. Freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin added 10 kills, three assisted blocks, and a .435 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander tallied eight kills, two aces, three digs, and three assisted blocks. Junior setter Jamie Ashmore recorded 38 assists, eight digs, and six kills, while sophomore libero Meredith Young had 15 digs.

Grand Valley State will play SIUE in the second semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.