Oct. 19, 2013

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - #20 Grand Valley State put together the most complete offensive performance by a Laker team in 11 seasons, overwhelming visiting Findlay by a 3-0 final on Saturday (Oct. 19). GVSU won its sixth straight match by using scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-11. The Lakers owned a .449 team hitting percentage, recording 47 kills and only seven attack errors.

Since GVSU's only conference loss (a 3-2 defeat at Ferris State on Oct. 1), the Lakers have rolled off six consecutive victories, only losing one set in that span. Grand Valley State is now 16-3 on the season and 10-1 in GLIAC play, while also picking up its ninth sweep of the year. Findlay falls to 12-8 overall and 5-6 in league contests.

While the Lakers were strong defensively (Findlay hit .071 in the match, GVSU had seven blocks), the story of the match was the Grand Valley State offense. The Lakers' lowest hitting percentage in any set was a .379 clip in the second frame, but GVSU upped that to an incredible .600 mark (17 kills, two errors) in the third set. Grand Valley State's .449 hitting percentage is the highest since Oct. 18, 2002, when the Lakers hit .455 in a 3-0 win at Wayne State.

Despite the offensive success, the first set was tightly contested. GVSU owned a four-point advantage at 14-10 on consecutive combined blocks from senior Megan Schroeder and sophomore Kaleigh Lound. The Lakers would keep Findlay at bay the rest of the set and get two late Schroeder kills to pull away, 25-19.

The second stanza was close at 9-7 before Grand Valley State put together a big 9-2 run which featured consecutive Schroeder kills in making the score 18-9. GVSU continued from there, finishing off the Oilers by a 25-14 final.

Set three was all Grand Valley State. The Lakers led 8-2 and 14-4, with six different players notching kills during that opening run. GVSU scored six of the last eight points in the set, as Abby Aiken, Rachel Dickerson, Betsy Ronda, and Josie Werner all had three kills apiece during the frame.

Overall, 10 different Lakers recorded a kill, including a match-best 12 putaways from Schroeder, who hit .550. On Friday night against Wayne State, the lefty hit .556 with 11 kills and only committed two attack errors the entire weekend. Aiken notched a match-high 15 digs, while adding nine kills, a .421 attack clip, and two blocks.

Ronda provided nine kills and hit .316, while Lound rejected six Findlay shots. Werner picked up six kills in nine swings for a .556 attack mark and libero Christina Canepa added her second kill of the weekend, while also recording nine digs, three assists, and two service aces. Setter Kaitlyn Wolters delivered 38 assists, nine digs, two kills, and an ace.

GVSU will head to the GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Illinois next weekend (Oct. 25-26). The Lakers will play three matches against top teams from the GLVC. More information on the team's opponents and schedule for the tournament will be released on Monday.