Grand Valley State blocked its way to a solid 3-1 home victory against Northern Michigan on Friday night (Oct. 28) in Allendale. The Lakers set the tone for the match, as they came back from a 24-19 first set deficit to win the set and ultimately the contest. After earning the come-from-behind win, GVSU won sets three and four to win 27-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-22.
A season-high 16 total blocks helped pace the Laker defense and also forced Northern Michigan into 43 attack errors and a .037 hitting percentage. In comparison, Grand Valley State hit .153 and committed just 24 hitting miscues. It was the sixth time this season GVSU has recorded double-digit blocks; the team's previous high in rejections was 12 against Northwood on Sept. 17.
With the victory, Grand Valley State is 13-9 on the year and 7-4 in GLIAC play. Northern Michigan falls to 13-12 overall and 4-7 in conference action.
Perhaps surprisingly, the losing Wildcats recorded more kills (49-48), digs (77-65), and aces (3-2) over the victorious Lakers, who held a slim 47-46 edge in assists. GVSU's block advantage was 16-10.
While Grand Valley State had just one player reach double-digits in kills - freshman
Jayci Suseland with 14 - and NMU had three players tally 10 or more kills, the Lakers had a pair of defenders notch eight blocks in sophomores
Jillian Butsavich and
Staci Brower. Both Butsavich and Brower nabbed one solo block and seven block assists. Suseland also supplied four blocks, while Brower notched seven kills.
Junior
Sydney Doby totaled eight kills, six digs, and five total blocks, while sophomore setter
Taylor Stewart led the Lakers in assists (22) and digs (15). Freshman
Sydney Benchley picked up 14 digs, passed for five assists, and served both of GVSU's aces.
Outside hitters
Brooke Smith (13 digs) and
Kendall Yerkes (eight digs) each had eight kills and a block, while junior
Katie Olson passed for 19 assists and recorded seven digs.
The opening set saw five lead changes and 10 tie scores, including a 19-19 deadlock. From there, Northern Michigan scored five straight points to jump ahead 24-19, just one point away from winning the set. A service error gave the ball back to GVSU and the Lakers took advantage. Behind Olson's serving, NMU committed four consecutive hitting errors, the second of which was blocked by Brower and sophomore
Danielle McCormick. The Wildcats went back on top 25-24, but Brower's kill tied the set again at 25-25. Brower then teamed with Yerkes for a big rejection and on set point, Suseland put down her fifth kill of the frame, giving the Lakers a terrific 27-25 comeback win.
GVSU carried that momentum to set two, opening up a 5-1 lead before Northern Michigan bounced back to take a 9-7 advantage. Trailing 12-9, the Lakers scored five straight points, including two kills each from Doby and Smith. Grand Valley State kept the lead and looked to be in control at 23-20. However, NMU rattled off the final five points - including three blocks of its own - to take the frame, 25-23.
Set three was all Grand Valley State, as the Lakers scored the first six points - Brower had two blocks and a kill - and opened up a 10-2 lead on a Doby kill. Northern Michigan actually got back into the stanza and made the score 16-10 before an error and a Yerkes kill made it 18-10. Doby put down back-to-back kills and teamed with Butsavich for a combined rejection to make it 22-11. The Lakers would close out the set at 25-12 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set was even closer than the back-and-forth first frame; there were 13 tie scores and seven lead changes in set four. Northern Michigan led 14-13 before Suseland put down back-to-back-to-back kills and a 16-14 advantage. Benchley's second ace made it 18-14, but NMU rallied again and tied the score at 19-19. The Wildcats actually opened a 22-21 edge before Smith tallied a kill to tie the match for the final time. After a Northern Michigan hitting error made it 23-22, Brower finished off the Wildcats with consecutive kills from Stewart to win, 25-22.
In total, Grand Valley State had four solo blocks (one apiece for Brower, Butsavich, Doby, and Suseland) and 24 total block assists. The Lakers notched seven blocks in set one, nearly matching their dig total (nine) in the stanza.
It was the second straight strong Friday night performance for GVSU, who held then-league leader Wayne State to a .035 hitting percentage last Friday (Oct. 21) in Detroit.
Grand Valley State returns to the court on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 29) against another Upper Peninsula school. The Lakers host Michigan Tech at 4:00 p.m. in the Fieldhouse Arena.
