Box Score The Grand Valley State volleyball team made it through the opening day of the 2018 season unscathed, taking down Wilmington earlier today before earning a tight 3-2 victory over New Haven in the nightcap. The Lakers, now 2-0, will get right back into action tomorrow morning as they are scheduled to take on Franklin Pierce at 10 AM before a 2 PM matchup with Tampa.
After going up 1-0 after a 25-22 first set victory, the Lakers dropped two straight sets, 25-20 and 31-29, but pulled off the come from behind win with a 26-24 fourth set victory and secured their second win of the season after a 15-9 third set.
Both teams struggled to get a consistent offense going, as GVSU finished with .143 hitting percentage and the Chargers were just a tough better with a .151 mark. The Lakers held the slight advantage in kills, 59-56, while the Chargers held the advantage in team blocks, 11-8.
Three Lakers surpassed the double-digit mark for kills, as senior
Staci Brower led the way again with 15 kills while teammates
Abby Graham and
Jillian Butsavich weren't far behind with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Three other Lakers added to the kill total, and
Hannah Murdock notched six,
Ashlyn Kartes and
Ali Thompson tallied five, and
Emma Clines added three as well.
Kartes also tallied a game-high 44 assists while libero
Kendall Yerkes led both teams with 24 digs. Kartes and
Kaylene Norris also chipped in 16 digs apiece while Graham added 14 and Thompson chipped in 12.
Neither team started off on a particularly great start, as four of the first six points were gained by service aces as the teams found themselves tied 3-3. After the Chargers took a slim 7-5 lead a few points later, the Lakers would tie the set up at eight-all before four straight points from the Lakers would push their lead to 12-9. Following another GVSU service error, they rattled off three more points for a more comfortable 16-11 lead. After going up 23-20, GVSU would use an ace from Yerkes and a final kill from Brower to secure the 25-22 first set victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
In set two, the Chargers quickly jumped out to a 4-2 lead but two kills from the Lakers and two attack errors from New Haven gave GVSU their first lead of the set, 6-4. The teams would then battle back and forth over the next few points, tying at 6-6, 10-10, and 12-12. New Haven would take a slim 20-18 lead but would outscore GVSU 5-2 to secure the set and tie the match 1-1.
Unlike the previous sets, GVSU got off to a hot start in the third set, taking a very quick 7-0 lead thanks in part to four straight Laker blocks to start set. GVSU would build their lead to 11-5 and eventually 16-8. From that point, New Haven slowly started a comeback and eventually caught the Lakers at 21 points. The teams would then be tied at 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29 before the Chargers managed to score the final two points of the set for the 31-29 victory and the 2-1 lead in the contest.
Once again, the Lakers jumped out to a big lead, with Yerkes delivering nine straight serves as the Lakers went up 9-1. After going up 14-7 however, the story of the third set came back as the Chargers mounted another comeback and rattled off seven straight points for the 14-14 tie. GVSU would trail the Chargers until the 20-22 mark, where they would outscore New Haven 6-4 to send the match into a fifth and final set.
In the last set, the teams were neck and neck to start. GVSU would go up 8-7 halfway through the finale and proceeded to score five straight points for the 13-7 lead. The Chargers would only be able to score two more points before the Lakers closed the match out with a final set victory, 15-9, to secure the 3-2 match victory.
Again, GVSU will be back in action tomorrow morning with a 10AM matchup against Franklin Pierce before a 2PM start time against Tampa.
