Sept. 20, 2013

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Allendale, Mich. - Returning home after a 4-0 trip last weekend, #21 Grand Valley State picked up where it left off, as the Lakers took care of visiting Hillsdale on Friday night (Sept. 20). GVSU notched a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-17, 25-11) in the GLIAC opener for both teams in a contest that took just 76 minutes.

With the win, Grand Valley State moved to 7-2 on the season and 1-0 in GLIAC play, while Hillsdale drops to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in the league. The two schools are regularly near the top of the conference every year; in fact, GVSU and Hillsdale met four times last season (including in the GLIAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament) and split the season series.

Furthermore, the teams were picked to tie for third place in the North Division in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, but the Lakers were much stronger on Friday night. Grand Valley State led in virtually every statistical category: hitting percentage (.230 to -.010), kills (40-18), assists (37-17), aces (9-1), and digs (51-38). Both teams had six total blocks.

The Lakers began to pull away in the first set after the score was tied at 8-8. Four straight Lakers points (on two kills from sophomore Betsy Ronda and one from classmate Kaleigh Lound) made the score, 12-8. Junior Ally Simmons was a part of back-to-back combined blocks (one with senior Megan Schroeder, the next with junior Abby Aiken) to up the lead to 18-12. The set ended on a service ace from junior Christina Canepa, her second ace of the opening stanza.

GVSU continued to roll in set two, jumping out to a 6-0 lead behind the strong serving of freshman Nicayla Joyce. Ronda, Lound, and Aiken had kills during that six-point stretch. Hillsdale pulled to within two points on three occasions, but every time the Lakers would put together a run. Leading 12-9, Schroeder and sophomore Jessica Majerle recorded consecutive kills, Simmons served up an ace, and Schroeder added another putaway. The score was 16-9 and although Hillsdale rallied, GVSU finished the set at 25-17.

Set three was close at 9-7 before Grand Valley State went on an offensive tear. The Lakers finished the set and match with a 16-4 run, which featured three kills from Aiken, two from Ronda, and a pair of blocks from sophomore Alyssa Wolfram. In the third frame, GVSU hit .385 with 13 kills in 26 attempts, holding Hillsdale to its second negative hitting percentage of the match.

Aiken tallied a match-best 10 kills and added six digs, while Schroeder provided eight kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Ronda supplied eight kills, seven digs, and three aces, as Canepa also served three aces and picked up a match-best 11 digs. Junior Kaitlyn Wolters, the reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week, passed for 28 assists and notched 10 digs.

The Lakers return to the court on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 21), when GVSU takes on preseason conference favorite Northwood. In last season's GLIAC championship match, the Timberwolves defeated Grand Valley State, 3-1. Saturday's match begins at 4:00 p.m.