Nov. 16, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - The #4 Grand Valley State Lakers completed a back-to-back run to the GLIAC Championship with a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-18, 15-25, 25-14) over Saginaw Valley State on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 16). GVSU clinched its fifth GLIAC Tournament title and extended its home court winning streak to a school-record 33 consecutive matches. The Lakers look to defend their Great Lakes Regional championship next weekend.

With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 29-3 on the year, while Saginaw Valley State drops to 23-7. GVSU defeated the Cardinals in all three meetings this season, with two victories of the four-set variety.

The opening set was well-contested through the middle of the set. With the score tied at 16-16, Grand Valley State scored the next six points, including a service ace from junior libero Meredith Young. Leading 22-16, the Lakers were able to close out the set, using a Lauren Reber kill, to take a 1-0 lead. GVSU used a .346 hitting percentage in the first set to put away the Cardinals, who connected at a .133 clip.

In the second set, a kill from senior middle blocker Danielle Alexander put Grand Valley State ahead, 3-2, and the Lakers would not trail again the rest of the set. GVSU extended its lead to 16-9 on a service ace from Alexander, announced as the GLIAC Player of the Year between the two semifinal matches on Saturday night. Saginaw Valley State cut the lead to 21-18, but the Lakers responded with a kill from Reber and three straight points from senior setter Jamie Ashmore, including a service ace on the final point, to close the set and take a 2-0 victory.

While GVSU hit only .147 in the second set, the Lakers held Saginaw Valley State to a -.023 hitting percentage, including 11 attack errors.

SVSU rallied to take the third set, by jumping out to a 13-8 lead. The Lakers closed the gap to 13-11 before the Cardinals regained the momentum and took a 17-14 advantage. Saginaw Valley State scored the next five points of the match behind the strong serving of Sarah Redoute and the Cardinals closed out the set with three straight points for a 25-15 win. SVSU hit .367 for the set, totaling 13 kills and only two attack errors.

Grand Valley State stole the momentum from the Cardinals by scoring the first four points of the fourth set, all on the serving of Ashmore. The Lakers pushed the advantage to 15-7 and leading 17-13, GVSU notched four straight points to go ahead, 21-13. Grand Valley State closed the match with consecutive kills from sophomore middle hitter Rebeccah Rapin and Reber to win 25-14.

The Lakers hit .400 in the fourth set, including 17 kills and only three attack errors. GVSU connected at a .258 attack percentage while holding the Cardinals to a .120 mark. Grand Valley State dominated at the net, totaling 25 block assists for 13.5 total team blocks, while Saginaw Valley State had 3.0 total team blocks.

Alexander totaled match-highs of 14 kills and eight block assists, while hitting .522 for the match. Reber added a double-double of 13 digs, 10 kills, and three block assists. Rapin and junior Whitney Tremain each added nine kills, while Tremain notched five block assists and four assists and Rapin added four block assists.

After the match, the GLIAC All-Tournament Team was named and Ashmore, Alexander, and Tremain were selected to the six-player team. For the second consecutive year, Ashmore was honored as the tournament's most valuable player.