Sept. 10, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - The #10 Grand Valley State Lakers opened the home portion of their schedule by sweeping Davenport University on Wednesday night (Sept. 10) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. GVSU took the match, 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-18) in front of a solid home crowd of 582 fans.

With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 7-2 and has been victorious in four straight matches. Davenport, an NAIA affiliate in just its' third year of collegiate volleyball, falls to 5-9.

The Panthers hung with GVSU for a good portion of the first set. Grand Valley State led 16-14 after a DU service error and promptly finished the set with a 9-1 run, including back-to-back-to-back service aces from junior libero Meredith Young. The Lakers hit .212 as a team in the opening set, tallying 12 kills, and holding the Panthers to a .000 attack clip (six kills, six errors).

Grand Valley State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set and never let up. The Panthers would record consecutive points only once as GVSU led 15-5 midway through the set. A 10-3 Laker run closed out the second set, 25-8. It was Grand Valley State's best offensive output, tallying 16 kills and just one error for a .417 attack percentage. The Lakers also forced Davenport into a -.300 hitting mark, as the Panthers recorded one kill and seven attack errors.

GVSU started strong in the third set and held off a late Panther push to close out the match. Ahead by two points at 8-6, the Lakers scored 10 of the next 13 points to take an 18-9 advantage. Davenport kept fighting and brought the score to within five points at 23-18 before Grand Valley State finished the match. A 13 kill-four error performance in the final set gave the Lakers a .220 hitting percentage, while Davenport connected at a -.065 mark.

For the match, GVSU hit .282 as a team with 41 kills and only 10 attack errors. The Lakers recorded seven service aces, 10.0 total blocks, and 37 assists. Defensively, Grand Valley State played well, forcing the Panthers into a -.099 hitting percentage for the match and tallying 40 digs.

15 different Lakers saw action in Wednesday's contest, led by reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Rebeccah Rapin, who totaled a match-high eight kills and added four block assists. Senior Danielle Alexander and junior Whitney Tremain each notched six kills.

Young led the team with three service aces and nine digs, while seniors Jamie Ashmore and Megan Walling tallied 20 and 15 assists, respectively.

After a brief stop in Allendale, the Lakers will head back onto the road to begin GLIAC competition this weekend. Grand Valley State travels to Wayne State on Friday (Sept. 12) for a 7:00 p.m. match, followed by a 4:00 p.m. contest on Saturday (Sept. 13) against Northwood.