Nov. 11, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - After dropping the opening set on Thursday night (Nov. 11) in the quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament, #13 Grand Valley State bounced back in impressive fashion, as the Lakers posted a 3-1 win (22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-15) over Northwood. GVSU used a stingy defense that tallied 74 digs and eight blocks to advance to the GLIAC Semifinals on Saturday night (Nov. 13) at Hillsdale. The Lakers will face Northern Michigan at 7:30 in the second semifinal match of the evening.

GVSU entered the conference tournament as the #2 seed, while Northwood was the seventh seed. With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 22-5 on the year and have won 16 straight contests, including nine consecutive home matches. Northwood's season ends with the Timberwolves compiling a 13-14 record.

The Lakers will meet up with Northern Michigan for the third time this season, with both teams won on the other team's home court. NMU struck first on Sept. 12 in Allendale, earning a hard-fought 3-2 win over Grand Valley State before the Lakers evened the season series with a 3-1 win in Marquette on Oct. 24. In the other semifinal match, host Hillsdale (the top seed) will face #5 Ferris State. That match will begin at 5:00 p.m.

Northwood came out on Thursday night as the complete opposite team that lost in three sets to GVSU less than one week ago. The Timberwolves hit .356 with 18 kills and just two errors in the first set on Thursday. NU pushed out to a 12-7 lead after back-to-back kills and led 13-9 before GVSU mounted its comeback. The Lakers finally tied the score at 19-19 and again at 20-20 before Northwood scored three straight points to take a 23-20 advantage. After the teams traded points, NU closed the set with a 25-22 win.

The second frame was close throughout, as the teams were tied six different times, including an 11-11 tie. GVSU led 16-15 and received one kill apiece from sophomore Eno Umoh and senior Rebeccah Rapin, which was sandwiched around a Timberwolf error, putting the Lakers ahead 19-15. Ahead 21-17, Grand Valley State scored three straight points on kills from freshman Stacey Catalano, Rapin, and senior Krysta Kornack. A Catalano kill just moments later put the set at 25-19 and the match even at one set apiece. GVSU played much better on both ends, hitting .353 with 17 kills and holding Northwood to an .081 hitting percentage.

Grand Valley State pushed out early to a 5-2 lead after a Kornack kill and eventually was on top 12-7 after a Rapin kill and an NU error, but the Timberwolves would not go away. Northwood battled back to within 14-13 before Kornack notched two more kills and after a Timberwolf error, the Lakers were ahead 17-13. However, Northwood put together a 7-3 run and tied the set at 20-20 before falling apart down the stretch. The Timberwolves committed back-to-back attack errors (the second error coming on a double block from senior Leslie Curtis and Rapin), then were called for a bad set, and proceeded to finish the 5-0 run with two more hitting errors. GVSU now led 2-1 after the 25-20 win. It was no surprise that Northwood recorded a negative hitting percentage, owning a -.054 mark with 12 errors and 10 kills.

In the fourth set, the Lakers were ahead 5-4 before three straight kills (Rapin, Catalano, and Umoh) put the score at 8-4. GVSU owned a 13-9 advantage, but three more timely kills (this time from Rapin, Catalano, and junior Nicole Whiddon) raised the lead to 16-9. Later in the set with a 21-12 advantage, sophomore Olivia Kohler served up three kills in four points, with two of the helpers going to Kornack and the other assist directed towards Umoh. Northwood would end the match by committing a serving error, giving the Lakers a 25-15 win. GVSU hit a terrific .438 with 15 kills and just one error in the fourth frame.

For the match, Grand Valley State hit a very solid .291 with 60 kills, holding Northwood to a .132 clip and 28 attack errors. The Lakers owned more assists (55-44), digs (74-68), and blocks (8-2).

Catalano played arguably the best match of her young career, as the rookie led all players with 18 kills, marking a career-high for the freshman. She also tallied 19 digs, which is just two shy of her personal best total. Rapin enjoyed another strong outing, as the middle blocker put down 15 kills and a .406 hitting percentage to go with a match-best four blocks. Kornack also reached double-figures on Thursday with 12 kills, while Umoh recorded seven kills in 12 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. Umoh also blocked three NU shots.

Defensively, four Lakers notched double-digits in digs. Catalano's 19 digs led the way, but senior Meghan Scanlon picked up a career-high 17 digs to go along with her 31 assists (four shy of her season-high). Curtis added 14 digs, four kills and three block assists, while freshman Sacha Gill supplied 13 digs, four assists, and a service ace. Kohler passed for 19 assists, while adding five digs.