Oct. 24, 2010

Box Score

Marquette, Mich. - #22 Grand Valley State upset #15 Northern Michigan on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 24) in Marquette, Mich., as the Lakers earned sweet revenge over the Wildcats with a 3-1 victory (25-15, 26-28, 25-16, 25-20). NMU had defeated the Lakers in Fieldhouse Arena on Sept. 12, but Grand Valley State returned the favor on Sunday, as GVSU has now won 10 consecutive matches.

The victory puts Grand Valley State at 16-5 overall and 12-2 in league play, while Northern Michigan falls to 19-2 on the year and 13-1 in the GLIAC. In the first regional rankings that came out earlier this week, NMU was the second seed in the Midwest Region, while GVSU was ranked third in the region. The Lakers have won 10 straight matches and not lost since Sept. 25 at Hillsdale. It is Grand Valley State's third win this season over a ranked opponent, as the Lakers defeated #1 Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 3 and #11 Lewis on Oct. 16.

While GVSU has been on a roll recently, one huge reason is because of the team's defense. The Lakers, one of the top blocking teams in the entire country, continued to push that stat upwards, as Grand Valley State recorded a season-high 15 blocks in the win over Michigan Tech on Saturday. On Sunday, GVSU topped that number, as the Lakers totaled a new season-best with 17 total blocks, including a ridiculous 13 solo blocks.

To put that number into comparison, Grand Valley State had 13 solo blocks combined in its previous five matches. The 17 total blocks are the most since GVSU recorded 18 blocks against Northwood on Sept. 11, 2009. Grand Valley State's 13 solo blocks are the most since Sept. 9, 2005 when the Lakers notched 17 block solos against Wheeling Jesuit.

The main culprits at the net were the usual trio of seniors Rebeccah Rapin and Krysta Kornack and sophomore Eno Umoh. Leading the way was Umoh, who totaled eight blocks, including six solo rejections, a career-high for the second-year player. Kornack tallied five blocks, including four solo, and Rapin blocked four shots, three of which were of the solo variety. Freshman Stacey Catalano and junior Nicole Whiddon each had a pair of block assists to add to the team's total.

GVSU came out focused and ready on Sunday, jumping out to a 4-1 lead, which featured a pair of blocks - Whiddon was in on both rejections, as she teamed with Rapin and Catalano on the blocks. The Lakers continued to own the net, but Northern Michigan kept the score close at 13-9. After consecutive kills from Catalano, sophomore Olivia Kohler put together some strong serving and GVSU scored six straight points, which included solo blocks from Umoh and Kornack. Grand Valley State led 19-9 and the teams traded points until a kill from senior Leslie Curtis ended the first set at 25-15. GVSU hit .300 with only one attack error in the first frame and held Northern Michigan to a -.022 attack clip by using eight total blocks in the opening set.

The second set was tied 13 times and NMU held a 19-16 advantage before the Lakers began chipping away and knotted the score up at 23-23 on a double block from Umoh and Kornack. GVSU actually took the lead on the next point, as Umoh notched a block solo, making the score 24-23. Northern Michigan, however, tied the score at 25-25, but the Lakers re-gained the lead on a kill from Curtis. The Wildcats then put together the final three points of the set for a tough 28-26 win to tie the match at one set apiece.

Grand Valley State bounced back and took a commanding 9-4 lead early in the third set, featured by Rapin's three kills and two solo blocks. Leading 13-7, GVSU used a 6-2 run with kills from Rapin, Umoh, and Whiddon and a service ace from Curtis to take a 19-9 advantage. Rapin then ended the set with her fifth kill of the set, making the score 25-16 and giving GVSU a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, the Lakers' strong defense continued, as Northern Michigan hit just .085 in the frame with 10 attack errors. Three of the four sets (all GVSU wins) saw the Wildcats hit less than .100, including the negative attack percentage in the first set. The score was tied at 7-7 before Grand Valley State made a 6-2 run on the serving of senior Meghan Scanlon and two kills from Curtis. However, NMU rallied back and took a brief 16-15 lead. GVSU then scored four straight points - a kill from Catalano, a solo block from Umoh, a kill from Umoh, and a Wildcat attack error - that made the score 19-16 in the Lakers' favor. Northern Michigan would only get as close as two points the rest of the way and another NMU hitting error ended the set at 25-20.

Not only did GVSU play terrific defense, but the offense was very good as well. The Lakers hit .278 for the match with 52 kills and only 12 errors. To compare, Northern Michigan hit just .114 with 58 kills, but committed 38 attack errors. Grand Valley State hit better than .300 in both the first and second sets and did not hit lower than .194, its fourth-set figure.

Rapin led all players with 16 kills, as she hit .389 and made just two attack errors. She added four blocks. Kornack continued her strong play as of late, as she tallied 13 kills, a .300 hitting percentage, five blocks and three digs. Umoh's eight blocks led all players, but she added four kills in seven attempts and a pair of digs.

Catalano recorded a team-high 16 digs, nine kills, and two blocks, while Curtis supplied 13 digs and eight kills, while hitting .292. Kohler notched a double-double with 20 assists and 11 digs, while Scanlon led the team with 23 assists and added eight digs. Freshman Sacha Gill was the fourth Laker in double-figures with digs, as she picked up 12 digs and served up an ace.

Grand Valley State, who is 8-2 on the road this season, returns home for the final five matches of the regular season. The Lakers are 4-1 at home and look to continue their 10-match win streak as GVSU takes on Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday night (Oct. 26) at 7:00 p.m. in the "Pack the Fieldhouse" match. On Oct. 2 in Saginaw, the Lakers swept SVSU by a 3-0 count.