Oct. 18, 2008

Box Score

Indianapolis, Ind. - #6 Grand Valley State put together a perfect weekend at the GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 18), closing with a 3-0 victory over Bellarmine. The Lakers recorded a sweep over the Knights (25-18, 25-19, 25-20) for their 18th consecutive victory to improve to 21-2 overall, while BU fell to 6-13. GVSU won all three of its matches at the inaugural tournament, including a pair of wins over top-25 teams on Friday.

Grand Valley State, the top-seed from the GLIAC, started the weekend with four-set victories over #24 Indianapolis and #21 Northern Kentucky, the fourth and second-seeded teams from the GLVC, respectively. On Saturday, the Lakers were paired with Bellarmine, the sixth-seed from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

GVSU had little problem with the Knights, as the Lakers hit above .300 in every set and Bellarmine never tallied better than a .200 attack percentage. Grand Valley State opened the match with a .370 attack clip, followed by sets of .308 and .302. The Lakers hit .321 for the match, while holding BU to a .167 attack mark.

Senior Danielle Alexander continued her impressive weekend by tallying match-highs of 12 kills and five block assists. Alexander hit .500 for the match and added five digs and a service ace. Fellow senior Lauren Reber added 10 kills and zero attack errors for a .500 hitting percentage, to go along with nine digs.

Juniors Whitney Tremain (eight kills) and Katey Crichton (seven kills, five digs) and sophomore Rebeccah Rapin (seven kills, two block assists) played well for the Lakers. Senior setter Jamie Ashmore controlled the offense with 35 assists, four kills, and four block assists.

GVSU totaled more kills (49-29), assists (45-25), digs (40-37), block assists (14-2) and total team blocks (7.0-3.0) than the Knights.

The GLVC-GLIAC Crossover was the first-ever inter-conference tournament between the two leagues and is believed to be the biggest collegiate volleyball tournament in the country. In two days, 25 teams between the two leagues played 39 matches, with the GLIAC posting a very impressive 27-12 record over the GLVC.

Honored on the 2008 Asics GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament team from the GLIAC were Danielle Alexander and Jamie Ashmore from GVSU, Mayssa Bazzi (Wayne State), Caryn VanBeckum (Northern Michigan), Anesia Benton (Ashland), and Gordana Barac (Northwood). The GLVC team included Lisa Brinker (UMSL), Katy Hernandez (Rockhurst), Kelsey Wesaw (Northern Kentucky), Cheneta Morrison (Indianapolis), Sara Cramer (Saint Joseph's), and Katie Ebbing (Quincy).

Grand Valley State returns to their home court on Wednesday (Oct. 22) at 7:00 p.m. with a non-conference match against Aquinas. The Lakers currently own a 27-match home win streak, just three wins shy of the school record. GVSU is four wins away from the consecutive-win mark, as the 2001 Laker team won 22 matches in a row, the best figure in program history.