Oct. 26, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - On 'Pack the Fieldhouse' night in Fieldhouse Arena, #18 Grand Valley State rolled to a 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) over visiting Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday night (Oct. 26) in front of 751 fans. The Lakers recorded their 11th straight victory and notched their 12th sweep of the season, as eight of the team's last 12 wins have been of the 3-0 variety.

GVSU improves to 17-5 on the year and 13-2 in the GLIAC, while Saginaw Valley State falls to 11-10 overall and 6-8 in league play. The Lakers were ranked third in the first regional rankings of the season, released last Wednesday. Since then, Grand Valley State notched victories at Michigan Tech and #15 Northern Michigan before sweeping the Cardinals on Tuesday. It is the second time GVSU has defeated Saginaw Valley State by a 3-0 count, also sweeping SVSU on Oct. 2 in University Center.

It was the third match in four days for Grand Valley State and the team was battling some illnesses, but GVSU still managed to hold the Cardinals to a .118 hitting percentage, which included 24 attack errors. Grand Valley State, the #3 blocking team in the country, recorded nine total blocks, compared to just two rejections for SVSU. The Lakers did not commit many errors (just 16) and played solid defense with 54 digs en route to the victory.

The first set saw the score tied at 6-6 before GVSU scored five straight points to open up an 11-6 advantage. Senior Krysta Kornack and sophomore Eno Umoh notched back-to-back kills (both assisted by sophomore Olivia Kohler) and freshman Stacey Catalano added a service ace during the 5-0 run. SVSU got back to within 13-11 before another 5-0 Laker run made the score 18-11 in Grand Valley State's favor. During the spurt, Catalano and junior Nicole Whiddon teamed up for a pair of blocks and GVSU received kills from Whiddon, Rapin, and senior Leslie Curtis. Ahead 22-19, Grand Valley State scored three of the final four points on kills from Umoh and Kornack, while a Cardinal service error finished the set.

In the second set, the score was again tied at 6-6 before the Lakers put together a 10-4 run that opened up the score at 16-10. Umoh recorded two kills and two blocks during the stretch, while Catalano added two blocks, and Kohler even recorded a rare kill. Saginaw Valley State would get within three points at 23-20 after a 4-0 run of its own, but Curtis would halt the momentum with a kill. The set would end on an SVSU attack error, giving GVSU the 25-21 victory.

Grand Valley State had its best offensive set of the match in the third set, which was bad news to Saginaw Valley State. The score was still close at 10-9 before SVSU committed a pair of errors around a Rapin kill and the Lakers led 13-9. With the score at 15-12, the Lakers would pick up kills from Rapin and Catalano and build an 18-12 lead off another Cardinal error. SVSU kept the margin close at 21-18 before Rapin notched three consecutive kills to make the score 24-18. One point later, Catalano delivered a kill that ended the set and match with a 25-19 third set win.

Leading the Lakers offensively was Rapin, who hit .333 with a team-high 12 kills and just two attack errors. She added a pair of block assists. Umoh played well with six kills, a .333 attack percentage, and three block assists. Catalano led all players with a career-high six block assists, while supplying seven kills, an ace, and an assist.

Freshman Sacha Gill recorded 19 digs in just three sets, which was only six digs away from her career-high, which she accomplished in a five-set match earlier in the year. Kornack put away six kills and added four blocks (including the team's only solo rejection), while Curtis totaled 11 digs and six kills. Senior Meghan Scanlon dished out 18 assists and added nine digs, while Kohler provided 12 assists, six digs, and the aforementioned kill.

The Lakers return to the court on Friday night (Oct. 29) against Tiffin in the team's 'Dig Pink' match. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match in an effort to help support breast cancer awareness. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.