Sept. 29, 2012

Box Score

Tiffin, Ohio - For the second day in a row, Grand Valley State made quick work of its Ohio opponent, toppling Tiffin on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 29) by a 3-0 final. GVSU had little problem with the Dragons, earning the sweep by scores of 25-16, 25-13, and 25-20.

The victory puts the Lakers at 11-4 on the year and 4-3 in conference play, giving Grand Valley State its fourth win in its last five matches. Tiffin dropped its seventh straight contest and falls to 4-9 overall and 0-7 in the GLIAC. It was GVSU's sixth sweep of the season and its second straight, including the 3-0 win at Ohio Dominican on Friday night.

Grand Valley State's offense (40 kills, only 15 errors) was solid, but the Lakers allowed Tiffin to hit just .098 with only 27 kills and 18 hitting errors. Freshman Betsy Ronda nabbed another double-double (her ninth of the season) with a match-high 10 kills and 12 digs. Ronda also served up a pair of aces. Sophomore Abby Aiken added seven kills in 16 swings for a .375 hitting percentage.

In the opening set, GVSU opened with a 13-9 lead and extended that to a 20-11 advantage with three consecutive kills from juniors Abby Ebels and Megan Schroeder and one from Ronda. A serving error from Tiffin ended the first frame at 25-16.

The score was 13-8 in the second stanza when the Lakers rattled off five straight points, three of which came on back-to-back-to-back service aces from junior Lyndsey Holt, pushing the lead to 18-8. After another 4-0 run and two final errors from the Dragons, GVSU closed the set with a 25-13 tally.

Grand Valley State led 15-12 in the third frame before a 5-0 run opened up the set in the Lakers' favor. Tiffin chipped away at got close at 22-20 before GVSU finished off the match with a Ronda kill and a 25-20 victory. The Lakers hit .310 in the third set with 18 kills and only five errors.

Ebels had six kills in 11 attempts for a .455 percentage, while Holt provided six digs and three of GVSU's eight service aces. Sophomores Clair Ruhenkamp (28 assists) and Christina Canepa (15 digs) played well on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, respectively.

Schroeder provided five kills, two digs, and two solo blocks, while sophomore Ally Simmons notched five kills in 10 attempts.

With the win, GVSU has 999 career victories in program history and looks to reach the 1,000 win mark at home next weekend. Grand Valley State faces Lake Erie on Friday night (Oct. 5) at 7:00 p.m. before a Saturday (Oct. 6) meeting with Ashland at 4:00 p.m. The Lakers would become just the seventh team in Division II history to reach 1,000 career victories.