Oct. 12, 2012
Box Score
Aurora, Ill. - For the second time this season, Grand Valley State was able to take down one of the GLVC's top teams, as the Lakers won a 3-1 contest over Missouri S&T. It was the first match at the fifth annual GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament and after falling in the first frame, GVSU rallied back to win the next three sets (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 28-26).
The Lakers, the GLIAC's #5 seed in the tournament, had defeated Missouri S&T on Sept. 1 in Monmouth, Ore. by a 3-2 score. On Friday morning (Oct. 12) in Aurora, Ill. the #2 seeded Miners won the opening set before GVSU rallied to take the final three sets and earn a tough in-region victory. Grand Valley State improves to 14-4 on the season and evens its win total from last season. Missouri S&T has its nine-match winning streak snapped, falling to 13-6 overall in 2012.
49 of Grand Valley State's 61 kills came from three players - sophomore Abby Aiken (19 kills), senior Eno Umoh (15) and freshman Betsy Ronda (15). Umoh was so prolific on Friday that she tallied a .682 hitting percentage and did not commit an attack error in 22 attempts. The Lakers hit a solid .260 in the match, including a .341 clip in the fourth and final set.
Umoh's offensive output was the best GVSU performance since the 2008 season. On Sept. 26 of that season, against Saginaw Valley State, senior Danielle Alexander provided 20 kills in 44 attempts without an error for a .455 hitting percentage. Umoh's 15 kills are the most kills without committing an attack error since Alexander's 2008 outing.
In the opening frame, S&T pushed out to a 16-10 advantage and would keep GVSU at bay the remainder of the set. The Lakers would not get closer than five points the rest of the set, as Missouri S&T hit an incredible .407 with 12 kills and just one error.
The second set was tight throughout, as the score was tied 12 times and there were six lead changes. GVSU trailed 19-17, but got a kill from Umoh and a Miner attack error to knot the score. It would be tied again at 23-23 when Ronda would deliver a kill and put the Lakers ahead by a point. Missouri S&T would then record an attack error, giving Grand Valley State the 25-23 victory.
GVSU carried that momentum into the third set, scoring the first nine points of the stanza, all with sophomore libero Christina Canepa serving for the Lakers. Two kills from Umoh and two combined blocks from Umoh and Ronda highlighted the 9-0 run. Missouri S&T would slowly chip away at the lead and made the score 24-21 before GVSU took a timeout. Junior Megan Schroeder then put down a kill to win the set, 25-21.
Missouri S&T was ahead 21-16 in the fourth set and looking to even the score at two sets apiece, but the Lakers had other plans. GVSU scored four straight points, including another Umoh-Ronda combined block to cut the deficit to 21-20. The Miners had set point at 24-22 before an attack error and consecutive kills from Aiken put the Lakers on top 25-24. With GVSU still ahead at 27-26, Ronda blocked an S&T attack on her own, ending the set and the match with a 28-26 win.
Grand Valley State tallied more kills (61-55), a better hitting percentage (.260-.214), more assists (58-52), and more digs (58-54). Missouri S&T led in blocks, 8-5. Aiken, Ronda, and Umoh all delivered offensively, thanks in part to sophomore Clair Ruhenkamp's 52 assists. She also added 13 digs and a kill.
Ronda notched another double-double with 15 kills, 10 digs, four blocks, and a pair of assists. Canepa picked up 19 digs, which was the match-high. Umoh's three block assists pushed into third place on the all-time block assists list (362) and fifth place on the career blocks list (432). She passed Sabrina Bird (2000-03) and Melanie Hodges (1995-98) on those lists, respectively.
The Lakers return to action against Bellarmine at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday night. BU provided a big upset early on Friday with a four-set victory over #25 Northwood.
