Box Score

The 2014 home opener for the #17 Grand Valley State volleyball team was a successful one, as the Lakers gave the home faithful a 3-0 victory over visiting Malone on Friday night (Sept. 19). GVSU took care of the Pioneers in straight sets, 25-20, 25-22, and 25-14 for its ninth straight win in a home opener.

With the sweep, Grand Valley State is 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. Malone falls to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in league action. GVSU hasn't lost its home opener since the 2005 season, when, ironically, the team won the Division II National Championship. Eight of those nine home opener wins have come by 3-0 scores.

The Lakers nearly doubled up the Pioneers in kills (42-24) and hit .175 offensively. GVSU's defense put together an 8-1 edge in blocks - including seven total rejections from freshman Sydney Doby - and held Malone to a .061 hitting percentage.

After consecutive kills from junior Betsy Ronda and senior Abby Aiken and a bad Malone set, the Lakers held a 13-7 lead in the opening set. From there, however, MU scored six straight points to knot the frame at 13-13. The set would be close the rest of the way. Leading 22-20, GVSU notched the final three points - two on Malone errors and the other on a kill from junior Jessica Majerle.

Set two was all Malone in the beginning, as the visitors climbed to a 10-4 advantage. The Lakers continued to chip away at the deficit and two service aces from senior Kaitlyn Wolters helped GVSU get even at 13-13. From there, Malone added three more points to lead 16-13, but Grand Valley State finished the set with a 12-6 run, which included a pair of kills from sophomores Josie Werner and Carley Gross.

Malone took a quick 6-3 lead in the third set before a 6-0 GVSU run put the home team on top. Ronda and Doby combined for a pair of blocks during the run, while Doby added a kill to start the six-point streak. Ahead 16-13, the Lakers scored three straight points on a Ronda kill and two more blocks - Doby combined with Gross on the first rejection and Majerle on the other. Grand Valley State scored the final six points of the match, finishing with a Kaleigh Lound kill.

10 different GVSU players recorded a kill, led by the eight putaways from Ronda and Lound. Doby supplied seven kills in 18 swings (.333 percentage), seven blocks (six assists), and five digs, as one of seven players to tally a block.

Senior Christina Canepa provided 14 of the Lakers' 56 digs, while Wolters notchd 34 assists and three of GVSU's four aces. 

The Lakers return to the Fieldhouse Arena floor on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 20) at 4:00 p.m. against Walsh.