Nov. 4, 2011

Box Score

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - The Grand Valley State volleyball team swept Lake Superior State on Friday (Nov. 4) in three straight sets, 25-18, 25-9, 25-21 to push their winning streak to a season-high three in a row.

Tied at nine in the first set, two straight kills from sophomore Megan Schroeder gave GVSU an 11-9 advantage and after the lead was pushed to 14-10 on a solo block from junior Eno Umoh, Lake Superior State responded with two straight points of their own to force a GVSU timeout. GVSU responded with a run of four straight points to push the lead out to 18-12 before LSSU used a timeout of their own. Trailing 20-14, Lake Superior State won three points out of four to make it a 21-17 match before GVSU closed set one with a 4-1 run, ended by a Schroeder kill.

Lake Superior State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second set but that was about the only bright spot for the rival Lakers in that set as GVSU would then go on a seven point run that included two Umoh kills and a block along with two straight aces by sophomore Sacha Gill. After an LSSU timeout, GVSU kept the momentum going, pushing the lead out to 17-4 before another LSSU timeout got called. Grand Valley State would cruise to victory in set two, 25-9, as they hit .333 for the set and held Lake Superior State to a -.214 hitting percentage.

Rebounding from a bad second set, LSSU responded in the third set by grabbing a 5-2 advantage early in the set before GVSU tied it with a run of three points. A combined block from Umoh and sophomore Sam Phillips was sandwiched by a Schroeder kill and Phillips kill to even things up. With GVSU holding a 12-10 advantage, they pulled away for good with a six-point run that included kills from Schroeder and Umoh, a combined block between the two and four LSSU attack errors to push the lead out to 18-10.

Lake Superior State wouldn't go away without a fight, scoring three straight points while trailing 23-17 to cut the lead down to three for GVSU. A kill from junior Olivia Kohler ended the LSSU run and gave GVSU a 24-20 lead as they would wrap things up with a kill from sophomore Abby Ebels to take set three 25-21 and the match.

GVSU hit .240 in the match and recorded 10 total blocks. Umoh was a force on both offense and defense, gathering nine kills in 12 attempts (.750 hitting percentage) with no errors while also recording seven total blocks (three solo). Phillips also had no errors in the match, collecting eight kills in 13 attempts for a .615 hitting percentage.

Gill had a match-high 19 digs while Kohler and freshman Clair Ruhenkamp split the assists, Kohler with 11 and Ruhenkamp with 15.

Grand Valley State (14-11, 11-7 GLIAC) will face Northwood in Midland, Mich. on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the final match of the regular season.