Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

Lakeland, Fla. - For the first time in over two years, Grand Valley State's volleyball team lost consecutive matches, as the #6 Lakers fell to #14 Florida Southern, 3-1 (18-25, 25-14, 25-19, 26-24) on Saturday night (Sept. 5) in Lakeland, Fla. GVSU was topped by Nebraska-Omaha earlier in the day and is now 3-3 on the year.

Grand Valley State hadn't lost consecutive matches since Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2007, when the Lakers lost to Southwest Minnesota State and SIU-Edwardsville at the Regis Premier Tournament in Denver, Colo. Florida Southern improved to 6-2 on the year.

Things started out well for the Lakers, who took an early 7-0 lead in the opening set against Florida Southern. A pair of kills from senior Whitney Tremain, sandwiched by kills from junior Rebeccah Rapin and freshman Ashley Blaszczak scored the set's first four points. Two more kills from Tremain put the Lakers ahead, 9-1, and GVSU extended its lead to 15-5. Rapin then recorded three straight kills to push the score to 18-6 and although the Moccasins rallied, Grand Valley State was able to close out the set with a 25-18 win. GVSU hit .379 as a team in the opening set, totaling 12 kills and just one attack error.

Florida Southern jumped ahead to a 6-5 advantage in the second set and steadily pulled away from the Lakers. With the Mocs leading 19-9, the teams essentially traded points the rest of the set with FSC taking a 25-14 victory. While Grand Valley State hit -.050 in the second set, the Moccasins connected at a .316 attack clip with nine kills.

The third set saw the Mocs push out to a 9-3 lead, but GVSU closed the lead to 16-15, as it forced four straight FSC attack errors. Grand Valley State kept the score close at 20-19 before the Moccasins notched the final five points, jumping out to a 2-1 lead in the match. The Lakers held Florida Southern to a .195 hitting percentage in the third set, but the Mocs secured 18 kills.

Florida Southern and GVSU played a tight fourth set, with the Lakers leading 12-9 before the Mocs tied the score at 14-14. FSC was on top, 20-19, and extended the advantage to 24-20 before Grand Valley State scored the next four points to knot the score at 24-24. The Moccasins, however, closed the match by scoring the final two points for a 26-24 victory.

For the match, Grand Valley State hit .221 with 35 kills, while Florida Southern notched 56 kills and connected at a .226 attack clip. The Lakers tallied more blocks (5-4) than the Mocs, but FSC recorded more digs (51-41), service aces (8-5), and assists (50-27).

Tremain notched a team-high 16 kills, while adding four digs and a block. She hit .250 for the match and was named to the all-tournament team. Rapin added nine kills and hit a .421 attack clip. She racked up two blocks, including one of the Lakers' two solo rejections.

Junior Meghan Scanlon provided a team-best 18 assists and added six digs, while seniors Meredith Young (11 digs, three kills, one service ace) and Katey Crichton (12 digs) also played well. Junior Krysta Kornack suppled two of GVSU's five service aces.

Grand Valley State is back on the court on Sunday afternoon. The Lakers take on East Stroudsburg at 12:00 p.m. and Eckerd at 4:00 p.m. to complete the four-match trip.