Oct. 25, 2013

Box Score

Aurora, Ill. - In a battle of the top two nationally ranked teams at the sixth annual GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament on Friday (Oct. 25), #17 Grand Valley State was able to finish off #15 Truman State by a 3-1 scores. GVSU won sets one, two, and four to finish off the Bulldogs (25-22, 25-15, 20-25, 25-22) in the opening match for both of the teams.

Entering the Crossover, Grand Valley State was 10-1 in GLIAC play, but maintained the league's #3 ranking due to tiebreaker rules. Truman State, also 10-1 in conference play, was the #2 seed from the GLVC. The win for GVSU was pivotal for the NCAA regional rankings, as the Lakers improve to 17-3 on the season; TSU falls to 16-6 overall.

Grand Valley State continues to excel against top-25 opponents. The Lakers are now 4-1 against ranked foes, including previous wins over #6 Southwest Minnesota State, #6 Washburn, and #22 Central Washington.

Friday's match was a tight battle, as Truman State looked in control with a late 22-19 lead. The Bulldogs followed, however, with consecutive attack errors to bring GVSU within a point. Sophomore outside hitter Betsy Ronda then took over, notching back-to-back-to-back kills (all from junior setter Kaitlyn Wolters) to push the Lakers out ahead 24-22. A service ace from junior Abby Aiken (the team's only one of the first set) ended the frame, 25-22, and gave GVSU a strong comeback victory.

The second set was tied at 13-13 before Grand Valley State took over with a five-point swing. Aiken served up another ace, while Ronda, sophomore Kaleigh Lound, and senior Megan Schroeder all delivered kills. A few points later, Schroeder combined with junior Ally Simmons for consecutive blocks that put GVSU on top, 21-14. The Lakers would close out the set and take a 2-0 lead, as Truman State hit .000 during the frame, with an equal number of kills and errors (nine).

Set three was tight throughout, as the score was tied 11 different times, including knotted up at 20-20. From there, Truman State scored five straight points and used back-to-back kills to pull within 2-1 in the match score. After a .000 attack clip in set two, the Bulldogs turned on the offense in set three with a .372 mark (18 kills, two errors).

TSU had things going its way in the fourth set, leading 13-9 midway through the stanza. The Lakers began to chip away at the deficit and tied the score at 16-16 after kills from Ronda and Simmons. After a Bulldog point made it 17-16, GVSU rattled off a 5-0 run, which saw two kills from Aiken, and one apiece from Simmons and Wolters. Truman State pulled within a point at 23-22 before a Lound kill and a Bulldog ball handling error ended the set and match in GVSU's favor.

Three Lakers recorded double-doubles, as Ronda, Aiken, and Wolters all reached that figure. Ronda (tied for match-high 16 kills) and Aiken (14 kills, two aces) each recorded a match-best 20 digs, while Wolters handed out 51 assists, picked up 14 digs, and recorded five kills in 10 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.

Lound provided 12 digs and hit .304 with a pair of blocks, while Schroeder notched a match-high six blocks and five kills. Simmons blocked five TSU shots and added five kills. Junior libero Christina Canepa picked up 17 digs, while freshman Nicayla Joyce supplied 12 digs and an ace.

Naturally, the team statistics were very similar. GVSU led in kills (57-55), hitting percentage (.207 to .149) assists (57-53), aces (4-0), and digs (88-80). Truman State narrowly led in team blocks, 10-9.

Grand Valley State is back in action on Saturday, as the Lakers will take on Missouri-St. Louis (11:00 a.m. ET) and Southern Indiana (5:00 p.m. ET).