ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State volleyball team fell in a five-set GLIAC match against Wayne State on Friday night at the GVSU Fieldhouse by a score of 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 14-25, 25-21, 13-15.). The Lakers, who have now played seven five-set matches this season, drop to 5-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
As a team, GVSU held a slight advantage in attack percentage (.207-.190) and kills (59-53), while Wayne State led in aces (6-4) and digs (70-59). The two teams each had 10 blocks.
Individually, freshman
Karlie Kucharczyk had a career-high 17 kills to lead the team.
Jaeli Primus totaled 13 kills and seven blocks,
Emma Clines put down 10 kills and 4 blocks, and freshman setter
Rachel Jacquay tallied 35 assists. Freshman
Kaitlyn Beebe added 14 assists and senior
Kendall Yerkes had a team-high 18 digs.
GVSU came out strong in set one, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. The Lakers would increase their lead to 10 points at 17-7 and contained the Warriors the rest of the set. Clines would end the set with a kill.
In set two GVSU and Wayne State traded points early. The Warriors would take control of the set by going up 9-6 and 13-8 midway through the set. Wayne State's lead would grow by as much as 9 points before a Lakers 4-0 brought the set within striking distance at 22-17. The Warriors ended the set a few points later on back to back kills.
Wayne State carried their momentum into set three. The Warriors led 7-1 early and went on a 9-1 run midway through the set to go up 18-6 and cruised to an easy victory.
The Lakers would answer however in set four. GVSU used a pair of Kucharczyk kills to begin the set before jumping out to a 12-6 set lead. Wayne State cut their deficit to just one point at 13-12, but the Lakers would never surrender the lead and ended the set on a ball handling error by the Warriors.
The Warriors would open the fifth set on a 6-1 run and increased their lead to 12-5. The Lakers would fight back and go on an 8-3 run to pull within just one point at 14-13. However, Wayne State would win the next point to finish the match.
GVSU will be back in action tomorrow against league-leading Ashland at 4:00 P.M. inside the GVSU Fieldhouse.
