Oct. 29, 2011

Box Score

Tiffin, Ohio - Despite some interesting circumstances, Grand Valley State completed its weekend sweep of a pair of Ohio teams on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 29), as the Lakers earned a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-21, 25-16) at Tiffin. GVSU's team bus broke down on Saturday morning during its trip from Columbus to Tiffin and the match started an hour later than previously scheduled, but the Lakers were able to stay focused and dispose of the Dragons in just 75 minutes.

With the victory, Grand Valley State improves to 13-11 overall and 10-7 in conference play. The Lakers have won four of their last five matches overall and also four of their last five road contests. Tiffin fell to 5-19 this year and 4-11 in the GLIAC after the loss.

Sophomore Megan Schroeder delivered three kills in the match's first six points to push the Lakers out to a 5-1 lead. Three Abby Aiken kills in a five-point stretch (all assisted by freshman Clair Ruhenkamp) kept GVSU on top, 12-6. Leading 13-10, Schroeder added another kill to start a 5-0 Laker run, which featured back-to-back service aces from junior Olivia Kohler. Grand Valley State would finish off the set with the five straight points, two coming on consecutive kills from junior Eno Umoh and the final three on Tiffin attack errors. Aiken and Umoh combined to block one of the Dragons' attempts, while Schroeder had a solo rejection on another TU attack.

After hitting .448 in the opening set, GVSU's offense struggled a bit in the second set (.087 hitting percentage), but the Laker defense held Tiffin to just an .048 clip and nine errors. Grand Valley State was on top early by a 7-2 score, but Tiffin would not go away. The Dragons pulled to within two points on a few occasions, including 22-20 before a TU error and a Kohler ace put GVSU in prime position. After a Tiffin kill made the score 24-21, sophomore Abby Ebels finished the set with a kill for a 25-21 win.

GVSU found its offense again in the third stanza and got off to a fast start with a kill and consecutive aces from Umoh. The Lakers maintained a solid lead throughout the set and pulled away from Tiffin after the Dragons made the score 18-15. Sophomore libero Sacha Gill provided two straight service aces and an Aiken kill put the score at 23-16 in GVSU's favor. Schroeder's kill ended the set and match at 25-16.

The Lakers topped Tiffin in hitting percentage (.257-.106), assists (35-32), aces (8-4), and blocks (5-2), while the Dragons picked up more digs (52-44).

Aiken provided a match-best 11 kills, while Ebels put down nine kills (and no errors) with a .562 hitting percentage. It was the fifth time in her last 10 matches that Ebels did not commit an attack error. Schroeder delivered six kills and a pair of blocks, while Umoh added five kills in 11 attempts, three blocks, three digs, and a pair of aces. Ruhenkamp handed out 32 assists and nine digs, while Kohler served up three aces.

Grand Valley State heads on the road next weekend to close out the regular season. The Lakers face Lake Superior State at 4:00 p.m. next Friday night (Nov. 4) before taking on Northwood on Sunday (Nov. 6) at 2:00 p.m.