Oct. 9, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - On "Dig Pink" night in front of over 1,000 fans at Fieldhouse Arena, Grand Valley State defeated Ashland, 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13) on Friday (Oct. 9). The Lakers won the second, fourth, and fifth sets to preserve their 11th victory of the season in a match that lasted two hours and five minutes.

The victory puts GVSU at 11-7 overall with a 7-3 conference ledger, while Ashland falls to 8-10 and 4-6 in GLIAC play. Grand Valley State is now 2-1 in five-set matches this season. Both teams were statistically even throughout the night, as GVSU and AU reach recorded 70 digs and eight team blocks. Ashland notched two more assists (51-49) while the Lakers picked up one more kill (54-53). GVSU connected at a .175 hitting percentage, while the Eagles hit .152 for the match.

Ashland broke open a close first with a strong run during the middle of the frame. GVSU lead 11-9 before the Eagles rattled off nine straight points to take an 18-12 advantage. The deficit would be too much to overcome, as AU would take a 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-17 victory. Ashland hit .258 in the opening frame, while the Lakers hit at a .111 clip.

In the second set, Grand Valley State held a comfortable lead for most of the set and led 24-18 before Ashland scored four straight points to cut the Laker lead to 24-22. However, GVSU evened the match on the next point, as senior Katey Crichton tallied a kill on an assist from freshman Olivia Kohler to finish the set at 25-22. Grand Valley State attacked at a .212 rate with 14 kills, while Ashland hit .200 with a dozen putaways.

The third set was a back-and-forth contest that saw nine tie scores and five lead changes. After being tied at 17-17, Ashland notched three straight points for a little breathing room and a 20-17 advantage. GVSU rallied to within two points at 22-20 before the Eagles scored three of the next four points to take a 2-1 match lead. In the third set, both teams recorded nine kills, 10 errors, and a -.023 hitting percentage.

Grand Valley State evened the match at 2-2 with a tremendous offensive set in the fourth frame. The Lakers hit .364 with 13 kills and just one attack error, but Ashland would not go away easily. With the score tied at 19-19, GVSU scored a pair of points, including a service ace from junior Rebeccah Rapin, to jump ahead 21-19. Ashland would cut the lead to 22-21 before the Lakers would force an attack error and a kill from sophomore Nicole Whiddon would put GVSU on top, 24-21. An AU service error two points later would knot the match at two sets apiece.

In the pivotal fifth frame, Rapin tallied three straight kills (two assisted by junior Meghan Scanlon) to put the Lakers ahead 4-2. GVSU would extend the lead to 10-3 on the serving of redshirt freshman Rachel Rohlfs. Rohlfs rattled off four straight points, including her first collegiate service ace to make the lead look insurmountable. Ashland, however, battled back and tied the score at 12-12. After an AU hitting error, Rapin delivered another kill (assisted by Kohler) to move ahead 14-12. After a bad set on GVSU, Ashland had an attack that landed out of play, giving the Lakers a thrilling 15-12 win.

Senior Whitney Tremain and Rapin led the way for Grand Valley State. Tremain totaled a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs, while adding three block assists and a service ace. Rapin notched 14 kills and a .323 hitting percentage for the match.

Crichton provided eight kills, seven digs, and three blocks (two solo), while Whiddon added seven kills, four block assists, and three digs. Scanlon also recorded a double-double with 28 kills, 10 digs, and a pair of service aces. Kohler supplied 19 assists, four digs, and a pair of kills from the setter position. Junior Janelle Beaudry tallied a match-high 27 digs, which ties her career high.

The Lakers return to the court on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 10) for a 4:00 p.m. match against Tiffin.