Box Score The Grand Valley State volleyball team earned a big 3-1 conference victory over Northern Michigan on Friday night (Sept. 21) by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21. GVSU now improves to 10-4 overall and 3-3 in the GLIAC while the Wildcats fall to 10-4 overall as well and 2-4 in conference action.
The Lakers will play Michigan Tech tomorrow afternoon (Sept. 22) at 4:00 PM in another GLIAC showdown.
GVSU had a big night blocking at the net, holding the 11-4 advantage in team blocks at the end of the match. GVSU also held the advantage in attack percentage .227 to .198 over the Wildcats, while also leading in digs (76-74). NMU held the slight advantage in assists, 54-49.
Senior
Hannah Murdock led the Laker attack, collecting 17 total kills while hitting an efficient .333. Fellow senior
Staci Brower tallied 14 kills of her own, while racking up a team-high .448 attack percentage. Freshman
Abby Graham and
Ali Thompson tallied eight and seven kills, respectively, while senior
Jillian Butsavich picked up six of her own. Supplying a majority of those kill opportunities was sophomore
Ashlyn Kartes, tallying 47 of GVSU's 49 assists.
GVSU got themselves into a hole early after the Wildcats took a quick 6-1 lead in the first set. The Lakers didn't let that get them down though, as they rattled off five-straight points of their own to tie the set 6-all. Following an 8-8 tie, GVSU took their first lead after an ace from Brower to go up 9-8 before an attack error from the Wildcats put the Lakers up two. NMU was able to rattle off five-straight themselves to regain the lead, 13-10. GVSU slowly battled back, eventually taking the 19-17 lead before outscoring NMU 6-3 down the stretch to take the first set 25-20.
GVSU carried their momentum over into the second set, taking an early 6-2 lead over the Wildcats. Just like the first set however, the team down early came back, as NMU regained the lead, 7-6. The teams battled back and forth as neither team ever gained a convincing lead, until the Wildcats broke a 17-17 lead with a four-point swing to go up 21-17. The late lead would be too much for GVSU to overcome as NMU would take the set 25-20 to tie the match 1-1.
The Lakers took the first two points of the third set thanks to back to back kills from Graham and Thompson. Following a quick 2-2 tie, GVSU took the lead and wouldn't give it up the rest of the way. The Wildcats kept it close the whole way, never trailing by more than two until the Lakers broke away at the end, going up 22-19. After a last push from NMU to bring it within two, 24-22, GVSU scored the final point thanks to a kill from Murdock to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Lakers carried their momentum over from set three, taking a quick 7-3 lead over the Wildcats. GVSU would push their lead out to 14-7 before taking a much more comfortable 20-10 lead a while later. The Lakers would struggle to put the set and match away however, as NMU would battle back and bring it within three, 23-20. GVSU would close things out however, winning 25-21, and capping off their victory with a final kill from Brower to win the match 3-1.
