Oct. 23, 2010

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - Grand Valley State continued its strong recent play on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 23) in Houghton, Mich., as the #22 Lakers defeated Michigan Tech in four sets with a 3-1 road victory (24-26, 25-13, 25-16, 26-24). Coming off three victories at the GLVC-GLIAC Crossover last weekend, GVSU extended its winning streak to nine consecutive matches in the win over the Huskies.

The Lakers move to 15-5 overall on the season, while GVSU is 11-2 in the GLIAC. Michigan Tech falls to 4-16 on the year with a 2-11 mark in conference play. Grand Valley State has won nine straight matches since its last loss to Hillsdale on Sept. 25. The team's nine consecutive victories is the longest streak since GVSU won 22 straight matches from Sept. 5 to Nov. 1, 2008.

Michigan Tech came out strong early, however, looking to end the Lakers' winning streak, as the Huskies hit .385 in the first set with 19 kills. It was a back-and-forth opening set, as the lead switched hands six times. GVSU led 23-21 late in the frame before the Huskies scored two straight points to tie the set at 23-23. The Lakers re-gained the lead at 24-23 but MTU tied the score, then used a combined block and a kill to end the set at 26-24 and take a surprising 1-0 lead in the match.

The first set loss seemed to awaken Grand Valley State, as the Lakers scored the first three points of the second set (including kills from senior Rebeccah Rapin and junior Nicole Whiddon) and led 8-2 after a double block from Whiddon and freshman Stacey Catalano. Leading 12-5, Catalano tallied a kill and then sophomore Olivia Kohler served up the next six points to push out to a 19-5 advantage. Kohler served an ace during the run, while sophomore Eno Umoh recorded a solo block, senior Krysta Kornack tallied a kill and the duo combined for a double block during the 7-0 run. GVSU finished the set a few points later on a Husky hitting error. The Lakers hit a tremendous .409 in the second set, totaling 12 kills in 22 attempts.

It was more of the same in the third set for Grand Valley State, as the Lakers again pushed out to an 8-2 lead. In the match's first 10 points, Umoh was a part of two consecutive blocks, teaming with Kornack on one rejection and Catalano on the other. Michigan Tech used back-to-back kills to cut the score to 16-12 before Rapin and Catalano notched consecutive kills and Kohler's strong serving (with her second ace) put together a 5-0 run to up the lead to 21-12. Catalano had another kill and combined with Umoh on a block during the run. Senior Leslie Curtis put down a kill to make the score, 24-16, and a service ace from senior Meghan Scanlon ended the set at 25-16.

Michigan Tech was not going to let the Lakers get away easy in the fourth set, as there was a remarkable 16 ties and seven lead changes during the final set. GVSU led 11-8 before the Huskies scored four straight points and took a 12-11 lead. MTU pushed out to an 18-16 advantage, but the Lakers used kills from Umoh and Kornack to tie the score again at 19-19. The score would be tied at points 20, 21, and 22 before Grand Valley State opened up a 24-22 lead off back-to-back kills from Catalano and Rapin. Michigan Tech would not go away, as the Huskies would tie the score at 24-24 on a kill and a Laker error. GVSU bounced back with a kill from Catalano and a combined block from Kornack and Umoh to end the set at 26-24 and the match at 3-1.

Both teams recorded 54 kills, but Grand Valley State hit .246 (19 errors) while the Huskies attacked at a .170 clip with 29 errors. GVSU also totaled 15 total team blocks (three solo, 24 assisted), as Michigan Tech rejected just six shots. The Lakers served up a season-high eight service aces, while MTU picked up more digs (64-48) than GVSU did.

Offensively, Rapin continued her tremendous success as of late. The reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week, the middle blocker totaled a team-best 16 kills, while hitting .469 with only one attack error. She added five blocks, including four block assists. Joining her in double-figures in kills was Catalano, who recorded 13 kills, eight digs, and four blocks.

On the defensive side of the net, Umoh was fantastic. She totaled nine blocks (two solo, seven assisted) and put down six kills with a .417 hitting percentage. Kornack had a solid all-around statline of nine kills, six blocks, two digs, an ace, and an assist. Curtis added seven kills with only one error, while picking up 13 digs, two assists, a service ace, and a block.

Scanlon dished out a team-high 26 assists to go with six digs and two aces, as Kohler tossed 17 assists, three digs, and a pair of aces. Freshman Sacha Gill led all players with a match-high 14 digs, as the newcomer also served up two aces.

The Lakers travel to Marquette, Mich. on Sunday afternoon for a huge meeting with #15 Northern Michigan in a match that begins at 2:00 p.m. GVSU is the third-ranked team in the Midwest Region, while Northern Michigan is the number two team in the region's first rankings that came out this week. On Sept. 12 in Allendale, NMU held off the Lakers in a terrific five-set match, as the Wildcats won the fifth set by a 15-13 score to capture the win.