Aug. 29, 2009

Box Score

Canyon, Tex. - After a 3-0 sweep earlier in the day over Southwestern Oklahoma, GVSU duplicated the feat with a 3-0 win over #19 Nova Southeastern on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 29) at the Lady Buff Volleyball Classic in Canyon, Tex. #4 Grand Valley State won by scores of 27-25, 25-21, and 29-27 to improve to 3-1 in 2009.

The Lakers took care of SWOSU on Saturday morning in 65 minutes and were able to defeat the Sharks just a few hours later even though two of the three sets went to extra points. Nova Southeastern is now 2-2 on the year.

In the opening set against the Sharks, GVSU took a 15-10 lead after a kill from junior Rebeccah Rapin. NSU started its comeback and tied the score at 18-18 only to see the set become tied seven more times. With a 24-24 score, senior Whitney Tremain combined with freshman Eno Umoh for a block to put the Lakers ahead, 25-24. Nova Southeastern would knot the set up again at 25-25 before consecutive errors by the Sharks gave GVSU a 27-25 win in the opener.

Senior Meredith Young started the second set very well, serving five straight points after Rapin's kill on the opening point. The Lakers were ahead early, 6-0, before NSU rallied and actually took a 9-7 advantage. Just like in the previous set, both teams stayed close and the scored would be tied five times throughout the set. With the score equal at 20-20, Umoh and junior Krysta Kornack used a double block to put the Lakers ahead, 21-20. Nova Southeastern would get within 23-21 before GVSU used a kill from Young and a service ace from junior Janelle Beaudry to end the set in the Lakers' favor, 25-21.

The third set was more of the same, as neither team took a lead of bigger than three points. Late in the set, however, Kornack and freshman Olivia Kohler took over. Trailing 25-24 and the Sharks serving for set point, Kohler found Kornack for a kill to tie the score at 25-25. On the next point, Kornack and Umoh teamed up again for a block and GVSU led, 26-25. The Sharks tied the score before Kohler and Kornack combined for another kill to put the Lakers ahead, 27-26.

After a GVSU attack error tied the score, the Kohler-to-Kornack combination worked again for a third kill, giving Grand Valley State a one-point lead, 28-27. Kornack then finished the set and match with a service ace, tallying three kills, a block assist, and an ace for the final five Laker points.

Kornack finished with nine kills (against just one attack error) for a .571 hitting percentage. She also added five blocks, including one solo rejection. Rapin tallied a team-high 10 kills and notched six block assists and three digs. Freshman Ashley Blaszczak provided seven kills, three blocks (one solo), and two digs.

Tremain contributed seven digs, six kills, and three block assists, while Young and Umoh both racked up five kills. Young totaled nine digs, while Umoh secured four blocks (one solo). Kohler and junior Meghan Scanlon each paced the Laker offense with 18 assists, while Beaudry notched a match-high 17 digs. Rapin and Scanlon were both named to the all-tournament team after the weekend.

GVSU hit .115 for the match with 42 kills, while holding the Sharks to a .091 hitting clip and forced 22 errors. While the Lakers had just one more dig than NSU (53-52), Grand Valley State had 12.0 total team blocks (including 18 block assists) to just 4.5 blocks for Nova Southeastern.

The Lakers travel to Florida next weekend (Sept. 5-6) where they will play a pair of matches at both Florida Southern and Eckerd.