Oct. 7, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - For the fourth consecutive match, Grand Valley State collected a three-set sweep, this time defeating Ashland by a 3-0 score (25-20, 25-22, 25-18) on Thursday night (Oct. 7) in GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers have won eight matches this season in three sets and their last six victories are of the 3-0 variety. GVSU moves to 9-2 in GLIAC play with the win.

The Lakers are now 9-2 in the conference and 10-5 overall, while Ashland is also 10-5 on the year, but 5-4 in league play. Entering the night, GVSU was the #3 team in the GLIAC, while Ashland was the fourth-place team. Grand Valley State has now won eight of its last nine matches, including its first home victory since Sept. 15 against Ferris State. The Lakers had been on the road for its past seven matches before Thursday night.

A tight first set that saw five tie scores had GVSU on top, 11-10, midway through the frame. The Lakers received consecutive kills from seniors Rebeccah Rapin and Krysta Kornack and upped the score to 14-10. Later in the set, a kill from senior Leslie Curtis gave Grand Valley State a five-point cushion at 20-15. The teams would trade points the rest of the set, with GVSU using a combined block from sophomore Eno Umoh and freshman Stacey Catalano to end the set at 25-20.

Kornack had five kills in eight attempts in the opening frame, while the Lakers hit .379 in the set. Grand Valley State still went up 1-0 despite Ashland's Brittany Snider picking up seven kills in a dozen attempts. Snider leads the nation in kills per game, but the Lakers would control her for the rest of the match.

Behind the serving of freshman Sacha Gill, GVSU went up 5-0 to start the second set, which featured three straight kills from Catalano. Ashland rallied to within one point at 6-5, but would never get back to even. Leading 11-9, Grand Valley State went on a 6-2 run, including three kills from Rapin, to jump out to a 17-11 advantage. The Lakers forced AU's Snider into three consecutive errors to move ahead, 20-14, and Catalano would record the final two kills of the set to hold off the Eagles, 25-22.

Ashland came out strong in the third set, leading 5-2 and 12-8 before GVSU began its come back. The Lakers tied the score at 14-14 on a Kornack kill, but Ashland would score two straight points to lead 16-14. From there, Grand Valley State would roll and score 11 of the final 13 points, including five blocks. Leading 22-18, Umoh single-handedly helped end the match. She recorded a terrific block solo to make the score 23-18, then combined with junior Nicole Whiddon for a block solo on the very next point. With GVSU serving for match point, Umoh ended up notching the assist on Catalano's kill to end the set at 25-18 and the match at 3-0.

For the match, Grand Valley State hit .231 with 39 kills, while the Eagles hit just .083 with 24 attack errors. The Lakers recorded 10 total team blocks (two solo, 16 assists), while holding Snider to a .140 hitting percentage despite her 14 kills. GVSU's defense also picked up 52 digs, including a match-high 12 digs from Curtis.

Catalano led the team with 10 kills, while hitting .310, and adding six digs and three total blocks. Rapin and Kornack each tallied nine kills apiece, with Rapin hitting .350 and Kornack notching a pair of block assists.

Umoh recorded a match-high and season-high eight blocks, while also putting away four kills. Her classmate, Olivia Kohler, tallied her first double-double this season with 12 assists and 11 digs, to go along with a kill in her only attempt. Senior Meghan Scanlon led the Lakers with 17 assists and added eight digs.

Grand Valley State gets back on the floor on Friday night (Oct. 8) at 7:00 p.m. against Lake Erie.