Sept. 9, 2007
Box Score
#13 Grand Valley State won all four of its matches in the Ashland Invitational in Ashland, Ohio over the weekend. The Lakers defeated Wheeling Jesuit, 3-0 (30-28, 30-13, 30-13), and #24 Northern Kentucky, 3-1 (24-30, 30-28, 30-21, 30-25) on Friday. GVSU then swept both Lock Haven (30-13, 30-22, 30-23) and Kentucky Wesleyan (30-13, 30-14, 30-13) on Saturday.
Grand Valley State improves to 10-2 overall on the season. The Lakers will begin GLIAC play as they host Lake Superior State in their home opener on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse. GVSU will then host Michigan Tech on Friday, Sept. 14 at 7:00 p.m. and Northern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 4:00 p.m.
The Lakers opened up the Ashland Invite with a 3-0 win over Wheeling Jesuit. GVSU hit .304 as a team and tallied 12 service aces and 10.5 total team blocks. Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple led the Lakers with 12 kills, two aces, three digs, two solo and three assisted blocks, while hitting .478 in the match. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber added nine kills, two aces, 12 digs and a .500 hitting percentage and junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded eight kills, three solo blocks, and three digs. Junior setter Jamie Ashmore tallied 40 assists, 15 digs, three kills, two aces, and four assisted blocks, while senior libero Allyson Riley had 21 digs and four service aces.
Grand Valley battled #24 Northern Kentucky in its second match on Friday and the Lakers picked up a 3-1 win. The Norse won game one, 30-24, but GVSU came back to win the next three games, 30-28, 30-21, and 30-25. Grand Valley hit an outstanding .367 as a team and added 21 total teams blocks and eight service aces. NKU hit .237 and had seven aces and just five team blocks.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber recorded 14 kills, seven digs, one solo and two assisted blocks, while senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple also had 14 kills, three aces, two digs, and two assisted blocks. Freshman Rebeccah Rapin tallied 10 kills, three solo and six assisted blocks, while hitting .588 and junior setter Jamie Ashmore posted nine kills, 45 assists, eight digs, four solo and two assisted blocks. Senior libero Allyson Riley added 15 digs, three assists, and two aces.
On Saturday, the Lakers started off the day with a 3-0 sweep over Lock Haven. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber continued to play well as she had 10 kills, four digs, an ace, and hit .455. Sophomore outside hitter Kaity Gormley recorded nine kills and six digs, while junior setter Jamie Ashmore added seven kills, 30 assists, three aces, nine digs, one solo and two assisted blocks. Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple had six kills, four digs, two solo and two assisted blocks and freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin tallied six kills, two digs, four solo and two assisted blocks, while hitting .667.
In GVSU's final match of the weekend, they defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, 3-0. Grand Valley posted a team hitting percentage of .422 and recorded 16 service aces and eight team blocks. The Lakers were led by junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander who had 10 kills, two aces, four digs, and hit .562. Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple recorded nine kills, three aces, three digs, two solo and four assisted blocks, while hitting .533. Sophomore outside hitter Meredith Young tallied eight kills, four digs and hit .412, while freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin added seven kills and hit .700 in the match. Junior setter Jamie Ashmore posted 17 assists, an ace, and three digs, while junior setter Megan Walling added 11 assists, three aces, and three digs. Senior libero Allyson Riley recorded two assists, three aces, and 19 digs.
Grand Valley State will open the GLIAC season at home, hosting Lake Superior State on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7:00 p.m.
