The #16 Grand Valley State volleyball team opened up its GLIAC Tournament championship defense on Wednesday night (Nov. 12) in Allendale and the Lakers made quick work of visiting Ohio Dominican. GVSU swept the Panthers by a 3-0 final (25-15, 25-11, 25-18) to advance to this weekend's GLIAC Final Four.

After finishing the regular season as co-champions with a 17-1 league record, the Lakers won a coin toss to earn the #1 seed and face #8 Ohio Dominican, who went 10-8 in GLIAC play. Grand Valley State moves to 22-4 with the victory, while ODU's season ends at 12-16. It was GVSU's 17th sweep of the year and its fifth consecutive 3-0 victory.

All four quarterfinal matches were 3-0 sweeps, but there was actually one upset - according to the seeds. #2 Ferris State topped #7 Hillsdale and #3 Findlay swept #6 Malone, but #5 Saginaw Valley State went up to Marquette and earned a 3-0 win over #4 Northern Michigan.

That pits Grand Valley State against SVSU in the first semifinal on Saturday, as the rivals will play at 4:00 p.m. The second semifinal between Ferris State and Findlay will start at 6:30 p.m., with Sunday's championship match slated for a 4:00 p.m. start.

Grand Valley State is the only team in this weekend's Final Four to also have played in last year's semifinals, which was also hosted in Allendale. The 2013 semifinalists of Ashland, Northern Michigan, and Northwood did not advance that far this year.

The GVSU offense (35 kills, .209 hitting percentage, only 11 errors) was pretty solid on Wednesday night, while the Laker defense picked up 66 digs and seven blocks and forced ODU into a .016 hitting percentage. The Panthers collected 26 kills and 24 errors.

Set one was tied at 4-4 before the Lakers used a 7-1 run to open up an 11-5 advantage. By the time GVSU went ahead 16-10, junior Betsy Ronda already had five kills. The Lakers then scored on consecutive kills from seniors Kourtney Wolters and Abby Aiken and a solo block by freshman Sydney Doby to push out to a 19-11 score. A sixth Ronda kill and a Panther error closed out the opening frame.

The second set was close at 11-8 before Grand Valley State ran off seven consecutive points. During the 7-0 run, Kourtney Wolters served up back-to-back-to-back aces and Doby took part in two blocks (one being a solo rejection) to help the Lakers open a 19-8 cushion. GVSU connected at a .300 attack mark, while Ohio Dominican hit at just a -.026 clip.

Grand Valley State raced out to a 14-5 lead in the third set after a kill from sophomore Carley Gross. Ohio Dominican hung around and cut the deficit to 18-14 before the teams traded points the rest of the way, including Gross putting down the final two kills of the match.

Aiken led all players with nine kills and added a team-best 17 digs, while Ronda supplied nine digs and eight kills (with a .304 hitting percentage). On her final dig in the opening set, Ronda picked up her 1,000th career dig. She is the 12th GVSU player to ever reach that mark.

Gross provided five kills without an error in 10 swings for a .500 attack mark. Kourtney Wolters tallied 13 digs and three aces, while Kaitlyn Wolters dished 26 assists and recorded 13 digs and three kills. Doby blocked four shots and added four kills, while junior Kaleigh Lound totaled four kills and three blocks.

The Lakers are familiar with Saginaw Valley State, having just defeated the Cardinals last Friday night (Nov. 7) in a 3-0 sweep. While the result was a sweep, it was not as easy as it looked. GVSU came from behind in both the first and second sets to win by scores of 25-23, 30-28, and 25-17. On Sept. 13 in University Center, Grand Valley State won the final three sets to capture a 3-2 victory, which included a 16-14 win in the fifth set.

GVSU is 2-1 all-time against Saginaw Valley State in the GLIAC Tournament, including a 3-0 win in last year's quarterfinals. In 2008, the Lakers defeated the Cardinals by a 3-1 score to win the GLIAC Championship in Allendale.