Oct. 9, 2011

Box Score

Painesville, Ohio - Two days after picking up its biggest win of the season, the Grand Valley State volleyball team dominated Lake Erie on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 9) by a 3-0 score. The Laker offense was terrific, hitting .321 with 38 kills, as GVSU won the match by scores of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-5.

After a huge 3-1 road win at Ashland on Friday night, the Lakers traveled to Painesville, Ohio on Sunday and took advantage of an overmatched Lake Erie squad. Grand Valley State improved to 9-7 overall and evened its GLIAC mark to 6-6, while the Storm fall 2-11 on the year and 1-10 in league play.

GVSU led in every statistical category, including hitting percentage (.321 to -.037), kills (38-18), assists (30-18), service aces (7-0), digs (34-32), and total blocks (11-1).

In the opening set, the Lakers jumped out to an 11-7 lead before LEC stormed back to score seven consecutive points and take a 14-11 advantage. GVSU then rattled off a 7-1 run to bump out to an 18-15 lead, which featured a pair of double blocks from Eno Umoh and Courtney McCotter, kills from McCotter and Sam Phillips, and an ace from Christina Canepa. The Lakers notched four points in a row late in the match to take a 24-17 lead and closed the set with a 25-18 tally.

The GVSU offense started to take over in the second set, as the Lakers put the first six points of the set on the board, including kills from McCotter, Phillips, and Umoh, a Canepa ace, and a combined block from Phillips and Umoh. Two kills in three points from freshman Abby Aiken and an Umoh service ace put the Lakers on top, 14-4. GVSU scored five of the last six points, which featured three kills from senior Allyssa DeHaan, all assisted by freshman Clair Ruhenkamp. The Lakers hit .353 in the second set, winning 25-12.

Grand Valley State opened up the third set by scoring the first 11 points, eight of which came on Laker kills. DeHaan supplied four kills in the run and sophomore Abby Ebels added three putaways, all while sophomore defensive specialist Sacha Gill served during the entire 11-0 spurt. Another 5-0 run midway through the set saw DeHaan pick up three more kills, combine for a block with Cailie Johnson, and Gill notch a rare kill. A kill from freshman Ally Simmons ended the set at 25-5, as the Lakers tallied a .464 hitting percentage (16 kills, three errors) during the stanza.

DeHaan was the only player in the match to reach double-digit kills, as she totaled a career-high 10 kills, while hitting .562 offensively, and record three blocks. Aiken provided eight kills and hit .400, as Phillips connected at a .455 pace and six kills. Umoh supplied four blocks, three kills, and two service aces, while Canepa and Lyndsey Holt each served up a pair of aces. Ruhenkamp dished out 25 assists to go along with two kills.

The Lakers compete next weekend in the fourth annual GLIAC-GLVC Crossover in Aurora, Ill. GVSU's competition from the Great Lakes Valley Conference has yet to be determined. Stay tuned to gvsulakers.com for more details throughout the week.