Aug. 25, 2007

Box Score

#11 Grand Valley State opened the season by tallying a 4-0 record at the Ferris State Invitational hosted in the Ewigleben Sports Complex in Big Rapids, Mich. The Lakers defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, 3-1, and Minnesota-Crookston, 3-0, on Friday, while sweeping both St. Cloud State and West Virginia State, 3-0 on Saturday. GVSU will travel to Denver, Colo. for the Regis Premier Tournament. The Lakers will play Lock Haven and Southwest Minnesota State on Friday, August 31. GVSU will play a team to be determined on Saturday, Sept. 1 depending on the outcome of Saturday's matches.

The Lakers opened the 2007 season with a 3-1 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan. West Virginia Wesleyan won game one, 30-28 and then GVSU rattled off three straight wins. Grand Valley took game two, 30-17, game three, 30-13, and sealed the match with a 30-18 game four win.

Junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander led the Lakers with 16 kills and two solo and four assisted blocks, while hitting .615. Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple recorded nine kills, three aces, three dig, and two solo and two assisted blocks and freshman outside hitter Leslie Curtis made her debut as a Laker posting nine kills. Sophomore outside hitter Katey Crichton had seven kills, four aces, eight digs, and two solo and two assisted blocks, while freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin started off her career with eight kills, three digs, one solo and three assisted blocks, and a .538 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber added eight kills, four aces, nine digs, and three assisted blocks. Junior setter Jamie Ashmore recorded 22 assists, four digs, and two aces, while senior libero Allyson Riley had 18 digs.

The Lakers tallied 57 kills, 18 service aces, 15 total blocks, and a .312 team hitting percentage in the match.

Grand Valley ended Friday with a 3-0 (30-26, 30-18, 30-23) win against Minnesota Crookston. GVSU posted 17 team blocks, 11 service aces, 40 kills, and a .288 team hitting percentage.

Freshman Leslie Curtis led the Lakers with 10 kills and a .385 hitting percentage, while senior Erica Vandekopple added nine kills, seven digs, two solo and two assisted blocks, and a .350 hitting percentage. Junior Danielle Alexander had seven kills, three solo and two assisted blocks, while hitting .467 and freshman Rebeccah Rapin recorded seven kills, three solo and three assisted blocks, and a .500 hitting percentage. Junior Lauren Reber posted three kills, three aces, and eight digs, while sophomore Katey Crichton added two kills, three aces, and nine digs. Senior Allyson Riley recorded 17 digs and junior Jamie Ashmore had 20 assists, eight digs, and two solo blocks.

The Lakers picked up their third win of the weekend with a 3-0 (30-27, 30-15, 30-15) sweep against St. Cloud State. GVSU hit an outstanding .446 as a team. Grand Valley State tallied 57 kills, 14 total blocks, and six service aces.

Senior Erica Vandekopple led the team with a career-high 17 kills, six assisted blocks, and an amazing .773 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kaity Gormley posted nine kills, four digs and a .533 hitting percentage, while junior Danielle Alexander added eight kills, four digs, six assisted blocks and hit .438. Freshman Rebeccah Rapin hit .700 with seven kills and four assisted blocks and junior Lauren Reber added six kills and nine digs. Senior Allyson Riley recorded 16 digs, while junior Jamie Ashmore had 38 assists, six digs, two aces, two kills, and two assisted blocks.

GVSU concluded the tournament sweeping West Virginia State, 3-0 (30-26, 30-20, 30-24). Grand Valley recorded 17 team blocks, seven aces, 47 kills, and hit .276 as a team in the win.

Senior Erica Vandekopple tallied 10 kills, two aces, four digs, four solo and three assisted blocks, while hitting .348 in the match. Junior Danielle Alexander recorded nine kills, five digs, and two solo and three assisted blocks, while freshman Rebeccah Rapin added eight kills, seven assisted blocks, and a .412 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kaity Crichton posted six kills, 11 digs, and two assisted blocks and sophomore Katey Gormley had five kills and three digs. Junior Jamie Ashmore tallied four kills, 31 assists, nine digs, one solo and two assisted blocks, while senior Allyson Riley added 25 digs.

The Lakers will play in the Regis Premier Tournament in Denver, Colo. next Friday and Saturday.