Dec. 4, 2008

 Match Highlights

Box Score

Grand Valley State - Concordia-St. Paul Notes

St. Paul, Minn. - Grand Valley State continued the quarterfinal sweeps at the 2008 Division II Elite Eight with a 3-0 victory (25-19, 25-23, 25-17) over Armstrong Atlantic on Thursday night (Dec. 3). The Lakers notched their 17th sweep of the season and improve to 33-3 on the year. GVSU will match up with #1 Concordia-St. Paul on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

With the victory, GVSU has won 30 of its last 31 matches, including a current eight-match win streak. The Lakers advance to their fifth Final Four in program history and return to the national semifinals for the first time since 2005. Armstrong Atlantic, winners of the Southeast Region, ends its season with a 28-7 record. It was just the second meeting between the two schools, as GVSU also defeated the Pirates, 3-0, on Sept. 1, 2000.

In the opening two matches of the tournament, #2 Cal State San Bernardino swept #17 California (PA) while #8 Truman State also took a 3-0 victory over Nova Southeastern.

The opening set started off a bit shaky, as each team's first serve turned into an error to start the match with a 1-1 score. The Lakers tallied the next four points to push the advantage to 5-1. A kill from junior Whitney Tremain gave GVSU a 6-3 lead before Armstrong Atlantic made the first run of the match. The Pirates put together a 6-2 run and took their first lead at 9-8.

Grand Valley State rallied back and tied the opening set at 12-12 and used consecutive kills from junior Katey Crichton and sophomore Rebeccah Rapin to put the Lakers ahead, 15-13. Armstrong Atlantic kept the score close at 17-16 before GVSU ran off eight of the next 11 points and closed the set on a kill from senior Danielle Alexander, who notched five kills in the opening frame.

The Lakers tallied 15 kills and a .306 hitting percentage in the first set, forcing AASU into eight hitting errors and a .000 attack clip.

For the second straight set, GVSU's first serve was an error and the match was tied at 1-1. Senior Lauren Reber then served four straight points, including a service ace, to put the Lakers ahead 5-1 for the second time in the match. Armstrong Atlantic started to make its way back by using a 5-2 run and eventually tied the score at 11-11.

With the set tied at 13-13, the Lakers used back-to-back kills from Reber and Alexander to push the lead to 15-13. AASU fought back and tied the score at 16-16 before taking a 19-16 advantage. Grand Valley State regained the ball and sophomore Janelle Beaudry served the Lakers back into the lead, scoring the set's next four points for a 20-19 lead.

Armstrong Atlantic trailed 22-20 before rattling off three consecutive points and jumping ahead, 23-22. The Lakers, however, tied the score and then used a block assist from Alexander and senior setter Jamie Ashmore to move back on top, 24-23. GVSU forced the Pirates into an attack error on the next point, closing out the set at 25-23 and jumping ahead 2-0.

Offensively, both teams struggled in the second set. Grand Valley State hit just .075, while Armstrong Atlantic connected at a .125 attack percentage. The teams also combined for 15 hitting errors.

The Lakers never trailed in the third set. A solo block from Alexander put GVSU ahead 4-2 early, while the Lakers increased the advantage to 7-4 with a combined block from Rapin and Ashmore. Grand Valley State tallied a kill from Tremain to go on top, 14-10. Trailing 15-11, Armstrong Atlantic rallied to tie the score at 15-15.

GVSU pushed the lead to 20-17 and notched the match's final five points, including two kills from Alexander, a service ace from Ashmore, and consecutive kills from Reber and Tremain to end the match at 25-17.

While Grand Valley State hit just .193 for the match, the Lakers held Armstrong Atlantic to a .058 hitting percentage. AASU led in total blocks, 7-4, but the Lakers connected for 43 kills to just 25 for the Pirates.

Alexander totaled a match-high 12 kills (without an error) and hit .522 for the contest. She also notched a block solo and two block assists. Reber played well on both offense and defense, adding nine kills and picking up 10 digs.

Tremain supplied seven kills and five digs, while Rapin connected for six kills and a block assist. Junior Meredith Young tallied a match-best 13 digs, as GVSU picked up 51 digs in the match. Ashmore dished out 31 assists and added five digs and a pair of block assists.

Grand Valley State's 33 victories tie the most wins in a single season under head coach Deanne Scanlon. The Lakers 33 triumphs are also tied for the third-most wins in school history.

This is GVSU's 10th appearance in the NCAA postseason and ninth straight trip to the national playoffs. Overall, the Lakers are 28-8 (.778) in the NCAA Tournament and have also advanced to the Final Four in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005.