Nov. 6, 2009

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State dropped a four-set contest to visiting Northern Michigan on Friday night (Nov. 6) at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. NMU earned revenge from a mid-season loss to the Lakers by defeating GVSU, 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17). The Lakers fall to 15-11 on the year with a 10-5 mark in GLIAC play.

On Sept. 18 in Marquette, Mich., Grand Valley State defeated the Wildcats, 3-1. However, NMU improved its record to 18-9 overall with an 11-4 conference tally with a strong road victory on Friday night. The match was tied 29 times with nine lead changes, but Northern Michigan came out on the winning end.

The opening set saw 16 tie scores and seven lead changes, but the Lakers were serving for set point at 24-23 before a service error. NMU rallied to score the next two points, including a powerful kill from senior Mandie Meyer to end the set. The Wildcats hit .227 with 16 kills in the first set, while Grand Valley State hit .171 with 11 kills.

Northern Michigan led 13-9 midway through the second stanza when GVSU rallied behind the serving of senior Kaity Gormley. The senior brought the score back to 13-13 and the teams would trade points for most of the rest of the set. Grand Valley State briefly took a two-point lead at 18-16 before NMU tied the set at 18-18 and then again at points 19, 20, and 21. Northern Michigan would close the set with the final four points, including consecutive service aces to push ahead 2-0 in the match.

The Lakers held a pretty consistent lead throughout the third set, jumping out early to a 5-2 advantage. GVSU extended the push to 13-8 and kept a close lead for the rest of the set. Junior middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin had a pair of kills late in the set and a putaway from senior Whitney Tremain ended the set at 25-21. The Lakers hit .257 with 12 kills and just three errors in the frame, while holding NMU to a .042 percentage and 11 attack errors.

While GVSU made the final score of the fourth set look close, it was all Northern Michigan early, as the Wildcats scored the first five points and jumped ahead 12-2. The Lakers slowly chipped away, cutting the lead to 19-16, but NMU notched six of the last seven points in the set, winning on consecutive Laker attack errors. Northern Michigan fired away in the fourth frame, hitting .321 with 15 kills.

Grand Valley State was led by Tremain, who posted a double-double with a team-high 11 kills and 12 digs. She added two block assists. Rapin recorded 10 kills, five blocks (one solo), and three digs. Senior Katey Crichton notched a team-best 17 digs, while junior Meghan Scanlon provided 16 assists and 13 digs.

The Wildcats hit .162 for the match with 56 kills, as three NMU players recorded double-digits in kills. GVSU connected at a .134 pace with 37 putaways and the Lakers recorded 10 total blocks to just three for Northern Michigan. Grand Valley State did tally more digs (66-65), but the Wildcats served up 10 aces, as the Lakers notched just one ace.

GVSU returns to the court on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7) at 4:00 p.m., as they take on Michigan Tech. The Lakers will be celebrating Senior Day, as the team's four seniors (Crichton, Gormley, Tremain, and Meredith Young) will be recognized prior to the match.