Oct. 4, 2013

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State bounced back very well on Friday night (Oct. 4), three days after falling in five sets at Ferris State, to dominate visiting Ohio Dominican by a 3-0 score. The Lakers took just 68 minutes to earn the sweep, winning by set scores of 25-14, 25-15, and 25-15. It is GVSU's ninth win in its last 10 matches.

Friday night's victory was all Grand Valley State, as the team controlled the match on offense (.308 hitting percentage, 42 kills) and defensively (eight team blocks, while holding ODU to a .059 attack mark). The Lakers hit better than .300 in all three sets, while Ohio Dominican never reached the .100 clip in any stanza. GVSU is now 11-3 on the season and 5-1 in GLIAC play, while the Panthers drop to 7-7 overall and 2-4 in league action.

A 4-4 score in the first set was quickly pushed out to a 14-6 advantage, thanks to strong serving from freshman Nicayla Joyce, who picked up a pair of aces in the 10-2 run. Two kills from Jessica Majerle were sandwiched around an Ally Simmons kill, making the lead 20-10. Freshman Josie Werner ended the set with a solo rejection, as the Lakers forced ODU into nine attack errors and a .028 hitting mark.

The Panthers kept the second set close at 9-7 before four straight Laker points upped the lead to 13-7. GVSU kept up the strong play, making it 21-13 after a solo block from Simmons, which came directly after a combined block between Simmons and freshman Rachel Dickerson. The Lakers closed the frame with three kills (Dickerson, junior Abby Aiken, and sophomore Alyssa Wolfram) in the final four points.

In set three, GVSU pushed out to an 11-4 cushion after consecutive kills by Simmons, who had four kills in four attempts in the final frame. ODU pulled within 11-7, but the Lakers used three straight kills from Simmons, Aiken, and Dickerson to take a 15-8 advantage. Late in the set, Wolfram recorded three blocks in a four-point stretch, one of which was a solo rejection. Dickerson's eighth kill of the night ended the match.

Aiken was the lone player to reach double-digits in kills, notching 11 kills and adding seven digs. Simmons (.667 percentage, zero errors, two blocks), Dickerson (five digs, two blocks), and Majerle (.583 attack mark, one error) all recorded eight kills. In the last two matches, Simmons has totaled 22 kills (in 35 swings) and only one attack error for a whopping .600 hitting percentage.

Junior Kaitlyn Wolters passed for 27 assists, while collecting seven digs. Libero Christina Canepa picked up a match-best nine digs, while Joyce added seven digs and three service aces. GVSU tallied more kills (42-28), assists (34-28), aces (5-0), digs (41-30), and total blocks (8-2) than Ohio Dominican.

Grand Valley State will return to the Fieldhouse Arena on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. match against Tiffin.