Box Score

Three days after winning the final three sets against #14 Ferris State, the #18 Grand Valley State volleyball team kept rolling, as the Lakers swept Ohio Dominican in Columbus on Friday night (Sept. 26). GVSU made quick work of a Panther team that was 4-1 in conference play entering the match. The Lakers won by scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-14.

It was the sixth straight victory for Grand Valley State, all of which are league contests. That puts GVSU at 8-2 overall and 6-0 in GLIAC play. Ohio Dominican is now 6-6 on the season and 4-2 in the conference. ODU was also 4-0 at home before falling to the Lakers on Friday night.

GVSU had a decent offensive match, hitting .188 with 36 kills. However, it was the defense that forced Ohio Dominican into a -.018 hitting percentage, as the Panthers managed only 24 kills against 26 attack errors. ODU recorded negative hitting marks in the first (-.073) and third (-.161) sets.

The Lakers got off to a good start, with middle blockers Kaleigh Lound and Sydney Doby notching the first two GVSU points in the opening set. Midway through the frame, Grand Valley State was up 18-16 before scoring three straight points - a Doby kill was sandwiched between a pair of ODU errors. That allowed GVSU to take a 21-16 advantage and close out the set minutes later after two more attack miscues by Ohio Dominican.

Trailing 5-3 in the second stanza, Grand Valley State went on a 15-6 run to take control of the score. Senior Abby Aiken came up big in the set, collecting six kills in 11 attacks and adding five digs for the Lakers, who hit .289 as a team in the frame. Lound and Aiken put down consecutive kills during the Laker surge and a service ace from junior Betsy Ronda made the score 18-10 in favor of the visitors. Aiken ended the set with her sixth kill of the stanza.

Grand Valley State used another huge run to finish off ODU in the third set. Leading 11-9, the Lakers scored 13 of the next 14 points, with the Panthers lone point in that stretch actually coming on a GVSU error. Lound tallied three kills, Aiken served up back-to-back aces, and the Laker lead ballooned from 11-9 to 24-10. GVSU is now 6-0 in three-set matches.

Lound was terrific, as the 2013 All-American picked up 10 kills in 16 swings, while committing just one error for a .562 hitting percentage. She added a pair of blocks. Aiken supplied 12 digs to go with her eight kills and two aces. Doby recorded five kills without an error and blocked a team-best four shots.

Setter Kaitlyn Wolters, coming off a triple-double against FSU on Tuesday night (the first by a Laker since 2007), dished out 24 assists and picked up nine digs. Libero Christina Canepa tallied 18 digs to lead all players in the match.

GVSU finishes their quick Ohio trip with a noon match on Saturday (Sept. 27) against Tiffin.