Oct. 30, 2009

Box Score

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - Grand Valley State scored an easy three-set victory on Friday afternoon (Oct. 30), defeating Lake Superior State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-19) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. GVSU continued its recent defensive dominance, as it recorded 13 team blocks and held LSSU to a .072 hitting percentage.

With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 15-9 overall and 10-3 in the GLIAC, while Lake Superior State falls to 3-22 with a 2-12 conference mark. GVSU has now won three straight contests and five straight league matches.

In the opening set, Grand Valley State opened the scoring up by jumping ahead 6-0 behind the serving of setter Meghan Scanlon. The junior notched a service ace for the match's first point and Lake Superior State then committed five straight attack errors. LSSU rallied to within 14-9, but GVSU scored seven of the next nine points to push the lead to 21-11. Laker junior Leslie Curtis ended the set with a service ace, making the score 25-13.

GVSU hit .421 with nine kills and just one attack error in the opening frame, while Lake Superior State recorded 10 kills and 12 errors for a -.065 hitting percentage.

The score was tied in the second set at 4-4 before Grand Valley State pushed ahead 11-8 and extended the score to 16-11 after a kill from Curtis. GVSU used a kill from freshman Eno Umoh to lead 22-16, but Lake Superior State rallied and cut the lead to 22-21 by scoring five straight points. Grand Valley State then closed the set with three of the next four points on kills from juniors Rebeccah Rapin and Krysta Kornack and Umoh's final kill ended the set at 25-22.

LSSU pushed out to a 4-0 advantage to start the third set, but GVSU would cut the lead to 9-5 and then score seven of the next eight points to make the score 12-10. The set would be tied at 16-16 and Grand Valley State would lead 19-18 before scoring six of the final seven points, including a kill from Rapin, to end the match.

Both teams totaled 35 kills, while GVSU hit .242 and Lake Superior State connected at a .072 pace. Grand Valley State notched four solo blocks and 18 block assists, while picking up 33 digs and six service aces.

Rapin led all players with 10 kills and six total blocks (one solo). Kornack added six kills on 11 attempts, hitting .364 for the match, while adding four blocks, including two solo rejections. Junior Whitney Tremain recorded six kills, four digs, and a block assist, while Umoh tallied eight rejections and four kills.

Freshman setter Olivia Kohler led GVSU with 14 assists and six digs, while Scanlon dished out 13 assists and notched seven digs. Junior Janelle Beaudry totaled a team-high nine digs.

Grand Valley State returns to action on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31) at 4:30 p.m. with a match at Saginaw Valley State. The Lakers swept SVSU, 3-0, on Sept. 26 in Allendale.