Oct. 11, 2008

Box Score

Ashland, Ohio - #7 Grand Valley State pushed its' winning streak to 15 consecutive matches with a 3-0 sweep at Ashland on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11). The Lakers also recorded their fifth straight 3-0 victory by defeating the Eagles 25-23, 25-19, and 25-18. GVSU improves to 18-2 overall and a perfect 11-0 in GLIAC play, while Ashland falls to 8-10 overall, 4-7 in the conference.

The Lakers, who have not lost a set since dropping the third set to Saginaw Valley State on Sept. 26 had a tough first set with the Eagles. In the past two seasons at Ashland, the Eagles took Grand Valley State to five sets before GVSU pulled out the wins in both matches.

In the opening set, the teams were tied at 8-8 before the Lakers scored five of the next six points to open a 13-9 lead. GVSU extended the advantage to 19-14 before AU made a late run. Grand Valley State led 24-23 before forcing an attack error by Ashland to close the opening set.

GVSU opened an 11-4 lead in the second set before Ashland put together a 7-3 run to cut the Laker lead to 14-11. Strong serving from Grand Valley State pushed the Lakers to a 20-12 lead they would not relinquish. GVSU held Ashland to a .077 hitting percentage in the second set and recorded nine kills of its own with a .250 attack clip.

A back-and-forth third set saw a tie score at 13-13 before the Lakers scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a commanding 23-15 lead. Grand Valley State had its' lowest hitting percentage in the final set with 11 kills and 11 errors, but held Ashland to a -.030 attack mark, forcing seven hitting errors.

For the match, GVSU hit .155 with 36 kills while forcing AU into 21 errors and a .110 hitting percentage. The Lakers recorded nine total team blocks (three solos, 12 assisted) and 48 digs, led by 17 digs from junior Meredith Young. Sophomore Janelle Beaudry served well throughout the match, picking up a pair of service aces and 10 digs.

Senior middle blocker Danielle Alexander was the lone Laker in double-figures with 10 kills. She added a pair of block solos, three block assists, and a service ace. Sophomore Rebeccah Rapin recorded nine kills, one attack error, and a .471 hitting percentage. Senior setter Jamie Ashmore added 27 assists, five digs, and three block assists.

Head coach Deanne Scanlon is now 14-1 in her career against the Eagles.

Grand Valley State will head to Indianapolis, Ind. next weekend (Oct. 17-18) for the inaugural GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament. Teams from both conferences will face each other, based on league records. GVSU will be the #1 seed in the GLIAC, but its' opponents have yet to be determined.