Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - #18 Grand Valley State fell to visiting Wayne State on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 12) at Fieldhouse Arena, 3-1 (25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 25-23). It was the Lakers' first loss at home since Oct. 7, 2006, which broke the school-record 37-match home winning streak.

GVSU falls to 5-5 overall, 1-1 in the GLIAC, while the Warriors improve to 9-1 overall with a 1-1 league mark. The last time Grand Valley State lost on its home court was nearly three years ago in a 3-0 loss to Hillsdale. The 37-match winning streak was the 12th longest in Division II history.

In the opening set, Wayne State jumped ahead to a 6-1 advantage and increased the lead to 17-12 midway through the set. Grand Valley State rallied to tie the score at 20-20 on a kill from senior Meredith Young. The Lakers took three more leads in the set, including a 23-22 advantage after a kill from junior Rebeccah Rapin. However, back-to-back GVSU attack errors and a Warrior kill turned the deficit into a 25-23 WSU win.

Grand Valley State had a tremendous second set, hitting .433 with 15 kills and only a pair of attack errors. Midway through the set, GVSU led 16-12, but scored nine of the final 11 points of the set for a 25-14 victory. The Lakers held Wayne State to a .056 hitting percentage with nine attack errors during the set.

The Warriors closed out the match with identical 25-23 wins in the third and fourth sets. In the third set, there were 10 ties and four lead changes. Grand Valley State again led 23-22 late in the set, but a pair of Laker errors and a Wayne State kill gave the Warriors another close win.

Both teams played even through the beginning of the fourth set, knotting the score at 15-15. Wayne State then held a pair of four-point leads before the Lakers rallied to cut the score to 24-23. However, WSU closed out the set and match with a kill, ending GVSU's winning streak.

Rapin notched a season-high with 20 kills, while hitting .385 for the match. She had three solo blocks for the Lakers. Senior Whitney Tremain added 13 kills, nine digs, and a pair of block assists. Junior Krysta Kornack supplied eight kills, four blocks, and three service aces.Sophomore Nicole Whiddon totaled seven kills and a pair of blocks.

Freshman Eno Umoh recorded eight blocks (seven solo) and six kills. Junior Janelle Beaudry provided 20 of the 61 GVSU digs. Junior Meghan Scanlon (30 assists, eight digs) and freshman Olivia Kohler (22 assists, five digs) ran the Laker offense well throughout the match. As a team, GVSU hit .227 with 60 kills and totaled 12.0 total team blocks (five solo, 14 assists). Wayne State connected for a .215 percentage with 54 kills.

The Lakers return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 15) for a 7:00 p.m. road contest with West Michigan rival, Ferris State.