Nov. 12, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - With a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-14, 15-25, 25-14) over Ferris State on Wednesday night (Nov. 12), the #4 Grand Valley State Lakers advanced to the GLIAC Semifinals and improved to 27-3 on the season. GVSU is the #1 seed in the tournament and will host the GLIAC Final Four this weekend (Nov. 15-16) at Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers will take on fourth-seeded Wayne State at 5:00 p.m. this Saturday.

GVSU and Ferris State (16-13) met for the third time this season, with the two previous meetings ending in the Lakers' favor. Grand Valley State won the first match, 3-0, on Sept. 16 at home before pulling out a five-set road victory at Ferris State on Oct. 24. The quarterfinal win by the Lakers was their 31st consecutive home victory, breaking the school record set in the 2000-01 seasons.

Both teams came out full of energy in the match, with the score being tied midway at 12-12. The back-and-forth set saw GVSU take a 16-13 lead off of a service ace from sophomore Janelle Beaudry. The teams would trade points for the rest of the set, but FSU could get no closer than 22-20 before the Lakers scored the final three points, including a kill from senior Lauren Reber. Grand Valley State hit a blistering .444 in the opening set, totaling 12 kills without an attack error.

In the second set, the teams raced out to an 8-8 tie score. GVSU then went on a quick 8-1 run to push its lead to 16-9. Ferris State was unable to muster any type of comeback and the Lakers used a pair of aces from junior Katey Crichton to score the final three points and close the set, 25-14. Grand Valley State connected at a .351 clip in the second set, including 16 kills and just three attack errors.

Ferris State easily played its best ball in the third set. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-5 lead and with the score at 16-11, FSU scored five straight points to take a 21-11 advantage. A Laker attack error ended the set at 25-15 and forced a fourth set.

Grand Valley State re-grouped and behind the strong serving of senior setter Jamie Ashmore, the Lakers jumped out to a 7-0 advantage, which Ferris State could not overcome. GVSU extended the lead to 12-2 and 18-9 before closing the set and match with three straight points.

For the match, Grand Valley State tallied 50 kills and a .264 hitting percentage. The Lakers held FSU to a .111 attack clip and forced 28 attack errors. GVSU was also strong at the net, totaling 22 block assists for 11 total team blocks, compared to five total blocks for the Bulldogs.

Serving for the Lakers was also a strong suit on Wednesday, as GVSU added six service aces, including a pair by Ashmore and two from Crichton.

Senior Danielle Alexander tallied match-highs with 14 kills and six block assists. She had a .480 hitting percentage for the match. Reber also played well, adding 13 kills, nine digs, and a pair of block assists. Junior Whitney Tremain supplied nine digs and a .412 attack mark.

Ashmore paced the offense with 39 assists, six digs, four block assists, four kills, and the two service aces. Beaudry and junior Meredith Young had 11 and 10 digs, respectively.

GVSU will host Wayne State in the first semifinal match on Saturday; the Lakers defeated WSU, 3-1, on Sept. 12 in their only meeting. The second semifinal match between second seed Saginaw Valley State and third-seeded Northern Michigan will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's GLIAC championship match will be played at 4:00 p.m.