Sept. 5, 2010

Box Score

Tampa, Fla. - On the final day of the Tampa Classic in Tampa, Fla., Grand Valley State dropped a 3-0 decision to the host Spartans, finishing the weekend for the Lakers. #3 Tampa defeated GVSU on Sunday (Sept. 5) in close sets by scores of 25-22, 25-19, and 25-21. Grand Valley State went 1-3 on the weekend, but all four matches were against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-15.

The Lakers opened the weekend tournament on Friday night with a 3-0 sweep over #1 Concordia-St. Paul, ending the Golden Bears' Division II record 75-match winning streak. GVSU was the only team all weekend to defeat Concordia-St. Paul. Grand Valley State then fell in a pair of contests on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 decision to #5 Central Missouri and losing 3-1 to #13 Nebraska-Kearney last night. Tampa improved to 3-1 with the victory over GVSU.

All three sets on Sunday against the Spartans were decided by six points or fewer, as the Lakers put up quite a battle against a Tampa team that returned all of its starters from last year's team that went 31-3. While Grand Valley State hit well offensively (.265 with 42 kills), Tampa connected at a .390 clip and totaled 49 kills. Three Spartan players recorded at least 10 kills and GVSU collected only two total blocks against the potent UT offense.

The opening set was tied 13 times, including the last time at 17-17 before Tampa took control at 20-19. UT opened up a 23-20 advantage before back-to-back Laker kills from sophomore Eno Umoh and senior Rebeccah Rapin pulled GVSU with 23-22. Tampa, however, closed the set with a kill and a Laker attack error to win a tough first set.

In the second set, there were 12 ties, as the teams continued to play back-and-forth volleyball. The score was knotted at 15-15 before the Spartans opened up the set with a 7-1 run, which included five UT kills, to make the score 22-16. A few points later, Tampa led in the match, 2-0.

The third and final set was another close contest, as the Spartans were only ahead 15-14 midway through the frame. Tampa looked to be pulling away when it took a 22-18 advantage, but GVSU battled back. Three straight kills from the Lakers came off the attacks of freshmen Stacey Catalano (a pair of kills) and Abby Ebels to cut the Spartan lead to 22-21. But Tampa responded with the next three points to close out Grand Valley State in three sets.

Offensively for GVSU, four Lakers had seven or more kills. Rapin totaled a team-best nine kills, while adding three digs, and a block assist. Catalano supplied a match-high 10 digs to go along with eight kills, a .333 hitting percentage, and the team's lone solo block. Also notching eight kills was senior Krysta Kornack, while senior Leslie Curtis tallied seven kills and five digs.

Sophomore setter Olivia Kohler dished out 17 assists, while senior Meghan Scanlon passed for 16 helpers. Umoh had just one block assist, but led all players in the tournament in total blocks, as she notched 13 blocks in 13 sets over the weekend.

GVSU returns home and opens up GLIAC play with a match against Michigan Tech on Saturday (Sept. 11). The 4:00 p.m. match will be the 2010 home opener for the Lakers.