Oct. 27, 2012

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - For the 12th time this season, Grand Valley State handed an opponent a 3-0 defeat. On Saturday afternoon (Oct. 27), the 3-0 victory was over Michigan Tech in a match that took GVSU just one hour and nine minutes to finish. The Lakers won by straight set scores of 25-22, 25-15, and 25-15.

After dropping a tough five-set contest to Northern Michigan on Friday night - the team's first loss after nine straight victories - GVSU responded well on Saturday against Michigan Tech. The Lakers hit .254 with 44 kills and tripled MTU in blocks (9-3). Grand Valley State held the Huskies to just 26 kills in three sets and a .057 hitting percentage.

With the victory, GVSU is 19-5 overall and 9-4 in the GLIAC. Michigan Tech drops to 9-17 on the year and 4-9 in conference matches.

The Lakers, after trailing 10-9 in the opening set, used a 12-2 run to widen the gap and take a 21-12 advantage. During that stretch, freshman Betsy Ronda tallied three kills and GVSU used one kill apiece from juniors Sam Phillips and Megan Schroeder and senior Eno Umoh. Michigan Tech closed the gap to 24-22, but a combined block from Schroeder and sophomore Ally Simmons gave GVSU the 25-22 win.

In set two, Grand Valley State scored five straight points after a 3-3 tie, with Umoh recording two blocks (one solo) during the run. From that point on, GVSU would hold a lead of at least four points the rest of the set. Umoh notched a kill to end the set at 25-15 and put the Lakers up 2-0 in the match.

GVSU held a lead the entire third set and used another 5-0 run after leading 6-5 to jump ahead 11-5. Umoh's kill and ace started and ended the run, while Schroeder added a kill during the five-point swing. Simmons and Umoh each added two more kills during the middle of the set, while Ronda's final kill ended the set and match. Grand Valley State notched the win despite playing without the team's leader in hitting percentage (junior Abby Ebels) and its leader in kills (sophomore Abby Aiken).

Ronda provided a match-high 14 kills while also hitting .375 and notching eight digs and an ace. Umoh was the other Laker in double-digits, totaling 10 kills in 21 swings. She recorded six more blocks, five of them being block assists. During the match, Umoh passed former GVSU All-American Danielle Alexander (2005-08) on the career block assists list. Umoh now has 386 block assists during her career, which is second-most in Laker history. Rebeccah Rapin (2007-10) sits in first place with 437 assisted blocks.

After totaling a career-high 20 kills on Friday night, Schroeder tallied seven putaways in just 18 swings on Saturday. Simmons added five kills, three digs, two block assists, and hit .400 in 10 attempts. Sophomore setter Clair Ruhenkamp handed out 28 assists to go with eight digs and four blocks (one solo). Freshman Stephanie Camper passed for 10 assists.

Grand Valley State heads to Big Rapids on Tuesday night (Oct. 30) to take on West Michigan rival Ferris State in a huge contest for both teams. The match begins at 7:00 p.m. On Sept. 25 in Allendale, the Bulldogs used a 15-13 fifth set score to hang on for a wild 3-2 victory over GVSU.