Box Score

It certainly wasn't easy, but the #18 Grand Valley State volleyball team opened up conference play on Friday night (Sept. 12) in Detroit with a solid 3-0 victory over Wayne State. The Lakers defeated WSU by set scores of 25-21, 34-32, and 25-23 to kick off GLIAC action.

After starting the year with a 2-2 record at the Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo. last weekend, GVSU returned home to immediately begin conference matches and the Lakers looked solid in their first conference contest since winning the GLIAC regular season and tournament titles in 2013.

The Lakers improve to 3-2 on the year and 1-0 in league play, while WSU drops to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. In what was certainly a close contest - two of the three sets were decided by the minimum two points - Grand Valley State narrowly held edges over Wayne State in kills (45-40), hitting percentage (.187 to .180), assists (43-37), service aces (5-2), digs (53-49), and blocks (8-7).

A close first set started heading the Lakers' way after a 14-14 tie score midway through the opening frame. GVSU took a two-point lead after consecutive kills from junior Kaleigh Lound and sophomore Carley Gross and would not give up the lead again. Back-to-back points from seniors Kaitlyn Wolters and Abby Aiken put the visitors on top, 21-18, and a WSU service error ended the frame in Grand Valley State's favor.

There were a total of 39 tie scores and 18 lead changes in the match, with a large number of those coming in the final two sets. The Lakers appeared to be in control with a 12-6 lead in the second set after a Lound putaway, but Wayne State slowly pulled itself back into the match. WSU knotted the score at 16-16 after a 10-4 run and actually claimed a 20-17 advantage.

A solo rejection by Wolters and an ace from senior libero Christina Canepa tied the score at 21-21. The set would be knotted up again at points 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32 - obviously neither team could pull away. That was true until Wolters put down a kill and served up a set-ending ace to give GVSU the tough 34-32 victory. 

This marked the first time in the 25-point scoring error (established in 2008) that the Lakers have scored 34 points in a set. Grand Valley State has not scored more points in a set since totaling 37 points in a wild 37-35 win at Michigan Tech on Oct. 20, 2007 - when the teams played to 30 points in each set.

The third and final set was just as close as the second stanza. There were 16 ties and seven lead changes in the final frame, with the North Division opponents being squared up at 22-22. Gross notched a kill and Wayne State committed an attack error to make it 24-22. Lound and senior Ally Simmons closed the match two points later with a combined block for the victory.

Junior Betsy Ronda nabbed another double-double, posting a team-best 10 kills and adding 15 digs to her total. Gross put up nine kills, while Lound provided eight kills in 13 attacks (a .462 percentage) and three blocks. 

Wolters dished out 34 assists to go with eight digs, six kills, two blocks, and an ace. Canepa recorded 19 digs and passed both Jodi Sprick (1,303 digs from 1992-94) and Megan Helsen (1,297 digs from 2003-06) on the career digs list. Canepa now has 1,307 digs in her four-year career, moving her into fourth place in Laker history.

GVSU returns to the court on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 13) in University Center against Saginaw Valley State. That contest is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.