Sept. 1, 2012

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Monmouth, Ore. - After going 1-1 on the opening day of the Western Oregon Classic in Monmouth, Ore., Grand Valley State captured a tough five-set win on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 1) over regional foe Missouri S&T. The Lakers came back from a 2-1 deficit to win sets four and five and earn the 3-2 victory.

GVSU improved to 2-1 with the win, although Missouri S&T (0-3) had the Lakers down 2-1 in the match and 15-10 in the fourth set. An Achilles' heel of Grand Valley State last season (the team was 2-6 in five-setters in 2011), the Lakers bounced back to take game four by a 25-23 score and dominated the fifth set to the tune of a 15-8 win.

Offensively, Grand Valley State was much stronger than the Miners, topping S&T in kills (69-51), hitting percentage (.201-.140), and aces (6-3). On the defensive front, GVSU recorded 13.0 total team blocks, led by seven rejections from senior Eno Umoh and six blocks apiece from juniors Abby Ebels and Megan Schroeder.

Umoh (10 kills) and Schroeder (14) were two of the four Lakers that notched double-digit putaways; sophomore Abby Aiken led GVSU for the third straight match with 18 kills, while freshman Betsy Ronda tacked on 16.

Grand Valley State maintained control of the entire first set, but Missouri S&T would never let the set get out of control. With the score at 14-12, GVSU put together a small 4-1 run that boosted the lead to 18-13. Two late kills from Ronda and a final one from Schroeder ended the set at 25-20.

The Miners evened up the match at one set apiece by winning a tight second stanza. Although S&T led 24-21 just one point away from set point, the Lakers scored three straight points to knot the score at 24-24. However, Missouri S&T regained control and scored the next two points of the set, finally winning 26-24.

In the third set, S&T was ahead 19-17 before notching the next four points to build a 23-17 cushion. A few points later, the Miners had taken a 2-1 lead in the match and on their way to closing out GVSU.

Missouri S&T, a team that made the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in school history, started the fourth set strong, leading 15-10. GVSU responded with an 8-3 run, knotting the score at 18-18. The set would again be tied at points 21, 22, and 23 before a Schroeder kill put the Lakers ahead 24-23. An attack error by S&T followed, sending the match to the pivotal fifth set.

Grand Valley State had its best offensive set in the fifth stanza, hitting .391 with 11 kills out of its 15 points. The Lakers were on top 6-2 after four straight kills that were alternated between Ronda and Aiken. S&T pulled within 7-5 before a kill from Schroeder, a combined block from Ebels and Sam Phillips, an ace by freshman Stephanie Camper, and an Aiken kill put GVSU on top, 11-5. The Lakers closed out the match by scoring the final three points, the last of which came on a service ace from sophomore Christina Canepa.

Three GVSU players posted double-doubles, including Aiken (18 kills, 13 digs), Ronda (16 kills, 15 digs) and sophomore Clair Ruhenkamp (37 assists, 10 digs). Canepa provided a match-high 23 digs. Schroeder tallied a .364 hitting percentage with 14 kills and only two errors. Umoh hit a solid .400 with 10 putaways, in addition to her seven blocks.

The Lakers close out the weekend on Saturday night (Sept. 1) with a 10:30 p.m. ET match against the host school, Western Oregon.