Oct. 4, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - With their biggest home crowd of the season, the #8 Grand Valley State Lakers played their best home match of the year, sweeping South Division foe, Hillsdale, on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 4). In just over an hour of play, the Lakers triumphed over the Chargers, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-19) for their 27th consecutive home victory and 13th straight win overall.

GVSU improves to 16-2 on the year and a perfect 9-0 in league play. Hillsdale falls to 12-7 overall, 4-5 in the GLIAC. Grand Valley State hasn't lost since dropping a 3-2 defeat to Augustana on Sept. 5.

The last time GVSU lost at home was on Oct. 7, 2006, when the Lakers fell to Hillsdale in a 3-0 decision. Of the 27 home victories since losing to the Chargers almost exactly two years ago, 18 of those wins are 3-0 sweeps.

Saturday was the 'Breast Cancer Awareness' match, as both teams wore pink uniforms to show their support for breast cancer research. Free pink Laker t-shirts were given out to all fans in attendance, as GVSU had its' largest attendance of the season with 773 people.

With the largest home crowd of the season, the #8 Lakers put on quite a show. GVSU lead 9-8 early in the opening set before scoring seven of the next eight points to open a 16-9 advantage. Leading 19-11, junior Katey Crichton served five straight points, including a service ace to make the score 24-11. The Lakers would win the set with a kill from senior middle blocker Danielle Alexander. GVSU hit .436 in the opening set, with 19 kills and only two attack errors.

In the second set, Grand Valley State quickly took a tied score (1-1) into a 10-3 advantage. The Lakers extended the lead to 17-9 before the teams traded points throughout the rest of the set. GVSU was again terrific on offense in the second set, hitting .389 with 16 kills and just two errors.

Hillsdale opened the third set with a 10-8 lead before the Lakers scored four straight points, including a Meredith Young service ace, to take a 12-10 lead. The Chargers would tie the score at 16-16 before Grand Valley State scored nine of the last 12 points to close out the match.

For the match, GVSU hit .374 with 49 kills and just nine attack errors. The hitting percentage was the Lakers' second-best of the season, as they hit .404 in a 3-0 win over West Florida on Sept. 6. Grand Valley State also recorded more assists (45-33), aces (4-1), digs (52-43), solo blocks (3-0), and block assists (8-6) than the Chargers.

Sophomore middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin put together a terrific match, with 12 kills, zero attack errors, a .667 hitting percentage, two block solos and a pair of block assists. Junior Kaity Gormley also notched 12 kills and just one attack error for a .393 attack mark.

Senior Lauren Reber added a team-high 16 digs and seven kills, while Alexander totaled eight kills and a pair of block assists. Senior setter Jamie Ashmore tallied 35 assists, seven digs, four kills, and a block solo.

The Lakers head to Ohio for a pair of road GLIAC matches next weekend. GVSU faces Tiffin on Friday (Oct. 10) at 7:00 p.m. in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. On Saturday (Oct. 11), the Lakers play at Ashland in a 2:00 p.m. match. Grand Valley State is 5-0 in road contests this season.