vs. Davenport (Saturday, Oct. 27 – 4:00 PM)
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The Grand Valley State volleyball team will be celebrating their five seniors in the 2018 class this Saturday (Oct. 27) as they are set to host the Davenport Panthers in their final home match of the season at 4:00 PM. Prior to the first serve, seniors
Kaylene Norris,
Madilyn Keller,
Jillian Butsavich,
Hannah Murdock, and
Staci Brower will be recognized for their time in Laker uniforms and for their contributions to the GVSU volleyball tradition.
The Lakers will come into the contest with a 12-12 overall record and a 5-8 mark in conference action. They most recently fell at home to Ashland and Wayne State by 3-0 scores last weekend (Oct. 19-20). GVSU will look to get back to their winning ways against a Davenport team that sports a 12-13 overall record and 6-7 record against GLIAC opponents. DU is in a similar spot as the Lakers over the past few weeks, as they have dropped five of their last six and also lost to the Warriors and Eagles last weekend.
Both the Lakers and Panthers are still fighting for spots in the GLIAC Tournament – which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 7 as well as Nov. 10 and 11. The top three teams from both the north and south division qualify as well as the two teams with the next highest records. GVSU currently owns the seventh best conference record and is just behind the Panthers on the overall and south division leaderboards. Ferris State, Michigan Tech, Ashland, Saginaw Valley State, and Wayne State have all secured at least a spot in the postseason tournament.
GVSU will be looking to avenge a 3-1 loss suffered on Davenport's home floor back on Sept. 11 when the Panthers used eight total blocks to shut down the Laker attack. GVSU will have to overcome the same issue this weekend, as the Panthers rank first in the league in blocks per set at 2.56 while they come in at seventh with 1.73 themselves. Despite not being the most threatening blocking team in the league, the Lakers are solid defensively once the attack gets through, ranking second in the conference with 17.85 digs per set.
Offensively, both teams rank near the middle of the pack in most categories, with the Panthers holding the edge in total kills while the Lakers lead in kills per set. They are also very similar when it comes to attack percentage, as the Lakers are hitting .205 and DU is hitting .209.
Brower continues to be the catalyst for the Laker attack. She currently leads the squad with 280 kills, 3.29 kills per set, and a .368 attack percentage. She also leads in every blocking category with 21 solo rejections and 50 assisted blocks for 71 total on the season. Murdock has been very solid for the Lakers over the past few weeks as well. She trails just Brower in most categories, having picked up 208 kills and 2.51 kills per set. Freshman
Ali Thompson and
Abby Graham have also added 283 and 147 kills, respectively, while Butsavich has tallied 128.
Butsavich, Grahah, and setter
Ashlyn Kartes have also been solid defensively at the net, ranking second, third, and fourth on the team in total blocks, respectively.
DU's attack is led by the trio of Jenn Kay Vander Meer, Hayley Kreiger, and Ashly VanderHorst as they have picked up 238, 225, and 222 kills, respectively. VanderHortst has been the main blocking piece for the Panthers as she has 121 rejections on the season while Jessica Marvin has added 91 herself.
Following the match this weekend, the Lakers will head to Wisconsin-Parkside and Purdue Northwest for their final matches of the season next weekend (Nov. 2-3).
