Sept. 29, 2007
Box Score
#10 Grand Valley State won a 3-2 (19-30, 30-27, 30-19, 25-30, 15-13) thriller on the road at Ashland on Saturday afternoon. The Lakers improve to 17-2 overall and remain the lone undefeated team in the GLIAC North Division with a perfect 7-0 record. Ashland falls to 16-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play. Grand Valley State will return home on Tuesday, Oct. 2 as it hosts West Michigan rival Ferris State at 7:00 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The win marks the 12 consecutive for the Lakers.
Ashland started game one off with a 15-10 lead and never looked back. The Eagles went ahead 20-15 and then increased their lead to 24-19. Ashland closed out the game by scoring the next six points to seal the 30-19 game one win. Ashland hit .421 as a team in the first game, while the Lakers hit just .214.
The two teams battled back and forth in the second game tying the match at 7-7 and then again at 11-11. The Lakers then went on a run to take a 17-13 lead. Ashland cut the lead to 24-22, but GVSU went back up and took a 29-26 lead. The Eagles scored the next point, but GVSU won the game on the next point, 30-27.
Game three was close as well as the two teams battled to a 10-10 tie. Grand Valley then went on a 7-3 run to go up, 17-13, and Ashland cut the lead to three, 19-16. The Lakers then went on a 4-0 run to go ahead, 23-16. GVSU took a 24-18 lead and then scored the next four points to to up, 29-19. The Lakers closed out the 30-19 win on a service error by Ashland.
Ashland came out on fire in game four taking a 14-10 lead. The Lakers cut the lead to 18-15, but Ashland pushed its lead back to 25-19. GVSU came back to within three points, 28-25, but Ashland tied up the match by scoring the next two points to win 30-25.
Game five proved to be as exciting as the first four games and both teams went back and forth. The teams tied the game at 10-10 and then the Lakers went up, 13-10. Ashland came back to make the score 14-13, but a kill by Erica Vandekopple won the game and the match for the Lakers.
Grand Valley State was led by senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple who tallied 16 kills, two aces, four digs, four assisted blocks, and hit .438. Junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded 15 kills, three digs, one solo and nine assisted blocks as she hit .419. Freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin had 12 kills and four assisted blocks, while junior setter Jamie Ashmore had 56 assists, 12 digs, and three kills. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber posted nine kills two aces, and 16 digs and freshman outside hitter Leslie Curtis recorded nine kills and six digs. Senior libero Allyson Riley added 34 digs and three assists.
Grand Valley State will return to the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena to host Ferris State on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m.
