Oct. 19, 2012

Box Score

Detroit, Mich. - In a match-up of two of the better teams in the GLIAC so far this season, Grand Valley State was able to take care of Wayne State by a 3-0 score on Friday night (Oct. 19). The Lakers rattled off their third straight sweep and eighth consecutive victory in winning by scores of 25-21, 26-24, 25-14.

Coming into the match, Wayne State was 7-2 in league play and sitting in third place in the GLIAC, while GVSU was 6-3 and in fifth place in the league standings. After the Lakers' 3-0 win, Grand Valley State improves to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in the GLIAC. Wayne State is 13-8 on the year and 7-3 in league matches.

After going 3-0 at last week's GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament, GVSU played very well again on Friday night, hitting .325 for the match and a terrific .364 in the third set. Grand Valley State has won its last 12 sets in a row.

Wayne State entered the match leading all of Division II with 3.00 blocks per set. On Friday night, GVSU outblocked the Warriors 7-3. Both senior Eno Umoh and freshman Betsy Ronda recorded five block assists. Umoh, the current GLIAC North Division Player of the Week, is now fourth on the Grand Valley State career list with 446 total blocks, as she passed former Laker Danielle Alexander (2005-08) with her last rejection.

GVSU raced out to an early 8-2 lead in the first set, with three kills from Ronda paving the way. The Lakers extended to a 16-7 advantage after a Megan Schroeder kill, but Wayne State would remain close. WSU made things interesting near the end of the set, making the score 23-20 before Ronda put down another kill. With the score 24-20, the Warriors committed a hitting error, giving GVSU a 1-0 lead.

In set two, Wayne State used a run midway through the stanza to go ahead 17-13 before the Lakers rallied back. Kills from Umoh, Ronda, and sophomore Abby Aiken, plus a Ronda ace, knotted the score at 18-18. The set would be tied again at points 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 before Ronda again came up big with another kill. To end the set, Ronda and Umoh teamed up for a combined block, pushing the match score to 2-0.

That momentum carried over to the third set, which was all GVSU. The Lakers led 9-2 and allowed WSU to get no closer than three points at 11-8. Two kills from junior Abby Ebels, and one apiece from Aiken, Ronda, and Schroeder put Grand Valley State ahead 22-14. The Lakers eventually closed out the win after three straight WSU hitting errors, one of which was blocked by Ebels and Ronda.

Aiken and Ronda each led the team with 10 kills. Ronda added eight digs, five block assists, and the team's lone service ace, while Aiken supplied three digs and a pair of blocks.

Umoh was terrific on both sides of the ball, notching eight kills in 10 attempts for a .700 hitting percentage, in addition to her five blocks. Sophomore Clair Ruhenkamp dished out 32 assists, while libero Christina Canepa picked up 10 digs. Ebels recorded kills on half her swings, notching six kills in 12 attempts without an error.

GVSU returns to the floor on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 20) at 2:00 p.m. against Findlay.