Sept. 3, 2011
Box Score: Rollins 3, GVSU 0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-19)
Box Score: GVSU 3, Florida Southern 1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 27-25)
Lakeland, Fla. - The #8 Grand Valley State volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Florida Southern Classic on Saturday (Sept. 3). The Lakers fell to Rollins (27-25, 25-15, 25-19) in straight sets in the first match of the day before toppling host Florida Southern by a 3-1 score (25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 27-25).
In the first match again Rollins, The Lakers actually held a 19-14 advantage after scoring six straight points that started with a kill from junior Eno Umoh to tie it at 14. After two attack errors and an ace by sophomore Sacha Gill, sophomores Abby Ebels and Stacey Catalano combined for a block before Ebels registered a kill of her own to make it 19-14. Rollins made a comeback, however, tying the set at 24 before a kill by freshman Abby Aiken put GV up 25-24. A kill by Rollins and then two consecutive blocks sealed the first set for Rollins though, a 27-25 triumph.
Rollins then cruised to a 25-15 win in set two and a 25-19 victory in set three to down the Lakers in straight sets and move to 4-0 on the season. The Lakers fell to 2-1 with the loss. Catalano again led the Lakers in kills with 13 and digs with 15 while hitting .294. Aiken hit .417, collecting six kills. Catalano also chipped in four blocks while Ebels and Umoh each had two. For the match, the Lakers hit .162 compared to Rollins' .301 hitting percentage. Freshman Clair Ruhenkamp led the team with 23 assists while also contributing a service ace and four digs. Gill had two aces and 11 digs.
In their second match of the day, GVSU took on 3-0 Florida Southern, the hosts of the tournament. The Lakers took set one by a 25-19 score as they never trailed in the set. The teams exchanged points up to a 16-16 tie before a solo block from Umoh sprung a five-point run. Following the block, Umoh recorded a kill and then a block assist with senior Nicole Whiddon to make it 19-16. Catalano recorded a solo block of her own and then Whiddon registered a kill to make it 21-16. After a point for the Mocs, Umoh recorded another kill while Gill served up an ace and the Lakers forced an attack error to make it a 24-17 game. Ebels then ended the set with a kill to put the Lakers up 1-0 in the match.
In set two, the Mocs responded, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage early. The Lakers cut the lead to 15-12 following a kill by sophomore Megan Schroeder, but five straight Florida Southern points pushed the lead to 20-12. After GV recorded three straight points, the Mocs pulled back away to claim a 25-20 win in the set.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the third set as the Mocs jumped out to an 8-5 lead before the Lakers recorded four straight points with a kill from sophomore Lyndsey Holt and then three straight Florida Southern attack errors gave GV a 9-8 lead. With the Lakers trailing 15-14 later in the set, GVSU went on a tear, getting two kills from Holt, a solo block from Umoh, a service ace from junior Olivia Kohler and a kill from Umoh to take a 19-15 advantage. The Mocs scored the next two points before Whiddon and Umoh combined for a block and Catalano recorded a kill to go up 21-17. After a Laker attack error, GVSU scored the set's final four points behind the strength of three Catalano kills to claim a victory in set three, 25-18.
For set four, the Lakers jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Florida Southern scored seven of the next eight points to take a 9-7 advantage. With the Mocs leading 13-11, GV reeled off four straight points to take a 15-13 lead before Florida Southern again battled back to go up 17-16. The Lakers then put the pressure on, starting with a kill from Schroeder, then an ace by Gill and another Schroeder spike. After a Florida Southern attack error and a Catalano kill, the Lakers were leading 21-17. The Mocs again responded, scoring three straight to cut the lead to 21-20. After an Aiken kill put GV within one point of taking the match at 24-21, Florida Southern dug down and got the next three points to tie the set at 24 and keep the match alive. A kill from Catalano gave GV a 25-24 lead but the Mocs tied it at 25. Catalano then took over again, scoring the set's final two points to give the Lakers the victory in the match, 27-25.
While Catalano only hit .103, she led the team with 21 kills, the only Laker in double digits. She also tied for the team lead with 18 digs as Gill also recorded 18. GV had four players in double digits in digs as Holt recorded 15 and Ruhenkamp had 10 to go along with 13 assists. Kohler was very efficient, recording a match-high 27 assists, seven digs and a kill. Schroeder hit .333 for the match with six kills and all together, the team recorded 11 blocks, led by Umoh's six, two solo. Whiddon recorded five block assists while Ebels had four.
The Lakers are now 3-1 on the season while Florida Southern falls to 3-1. GVSU is now off until Saturday, September 10th, when they get into conference play with a match against Northern Michigan at 4 p.m. in Marquette.
