Nov. 24, 2013

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Allendale, Mich. - The 2013 GLIAC Tournament championship match was about as close and as exciting as possible, with top-seeded Grand Valley State outlasting second-seed Ashland in a gritty 3-2 victory (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 19-17) on Sunday afternoon in Allendale. #13 GVSU held on for a tough fifth-set victory to extend its winning streak to 19 straight matches and earn the sixth GLIAC Tournament championship in program history.

Both teams arrived in the championship finals on similar paths. GVSU and Ashland both won their quarterfinal contests in 3-0 sweeps and each team was victorious by a 3-1 score in Saturday's semifinal round. The Lakers brought an 18-match win streak into the match, while Ashland had won 11 in a row.

With the victory, Grand Valley State improves to 29-3 and earns the GLIAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament to be held on Dec. 5-7. Entering this weekend, GVSU was the region's top seed and in position to host that tournament in Allendale. The Lakers have won 27 of their past 28 matches. Ashland is 25-7 overall.

In set one, the Lakers came out strong and led 17-9 after 5-0 run that featured a combined block from sophomores Kaleigh Lound and Betsy Ronda and kill from senior Megan Schroeder. GVSU appeared to be in control until Ashland crawled back in and made the score 22-21 after consecutive service aces. However, a service error on the next point gave the Lakers a 23-21 lead and the serve. Ronda delivered another kill and Schroeder teamed with junior Ally Simmons for a set-ending block. The Lakers held Ashland to a .109 hitting percentage in the first set; GVSU hit .237.

AU jumped out to an 11-3 lead in set two before Grand Valley State started to chip away. The Lakers pulled to within 15-12 on a Schroeder kill, but Ashland answered with three straight points to open a six-point cushion. From there, the teams seemed to trade points and GVSU would get no closer than six points the rest of the set. The Eagles hit .375 in the second stanza.

Set three saw the Lakers on top, 16-12 after a kill from GLIAC Player of the Year Abby Aiken, but Ashland would rally to knot the score at 17-17. The Eagles then turned a 21-20 advantage into a 23-20 lead. Ronda served up an ace for GVSU to bring the Lakers within a point at 24-23, but Ashland closed the set with a kill to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Grand Valley State never trailed in the fourth set and used a 6-1 run mid-set to open a 15-9 advantage. On consecutive points during that run, Aiken teamed with Lound for a block and Lound then recorded a solo rejection and a kill to up the Laker cushion. GVSU would hold the Eagles at bay the rest of the set by totaling seven team blocks in the fourth frame. Ashland (14 kills, 13 errors) hit just .020 in the set, as the teams headed to a fifth set to decide the tournament championship.

It was all GVSU early, as the Lakers raced to a 7-3 lead after back-to-back kills from Ronda and Aiken and consecutive errors by Ashland. After an Eagle timeout, AU rattled off a shocking 6-0 run to storm ahead, 9-7. The Lakers rallied to tie the score at 10-10 and it would be tied at points 11, 12, 13, and 14. Ashland went ahead 15-14 and was serving for match point before Schroeder put down a kill. Simmons then notched a solo block and the Lakers led 16-15.

Serving for match point, GVSU could not close out the Eagles, who tied it up with a kill. Simmons then recorded another kill and Grand Valley State was up 17-16 before a Laker error tied the score for the 11th time in the fifth set alone. Junior setter Kaitlyn Wolters then found Ronda and Aiken on back-to-back points for huge kills that finally ended the match and clinched the GLIAC Tournament championship for the Lakers.

Ashland topped Grand Valley State in kills (70-57), assists (68-55), digs (98-86), and aces (8-3), while the Lakers were better in total blocks (18-12) and hitting percentage (.192 to .168). GVSU had just 22 attack errors, while the Eagles committed 36.

Aiken, who was named GLIAC Player of the Year on Saturday night, earned All-Tournament Team most valuable player honors with a team-high 16 kills. She added 15 digs and a pair of blocks. On her first kill in the fifth set, Aiken recorded her 1,000th career kill. Ronda played very well, totaling 17 digs, 15 kills, three blocks, two aces. Wolters neared a triple-double, as she handed out 46 assists, a team-high 22 digs, eight blocks, and four kills. Aiken, Ronda, and Wolters were all named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team.

Schroeder put down nine kills, while Lound tallied a match-best 10 blocks (two solo, eight assists) and six kills. Simmons provided six blocks and six kills, while junior libero Christina Canepa picked up 18 digs and dished six assists.

Joining Aiken, Ronda, and Wolters on the All-Tournament Team were Samantha Zuber and Casey Clark from Ashland, Juliia Pakhomenko from Northwood, and Northern Michigan's Sarah Hamilton.

The tournament championship was the first for Grand Valley State since 2008. GVSU has also been GLIAC Tournament champions in 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2007.