BIG RAPIDS, MICH. – In a battle of the past two GLIAC regular season champions, the nineteenth-ranked Lakers of Grand Valley State traveled up to Big Rapids to face #12 Ferris State in an early season league matchup. The two teams battled through five sets, but the Lakers prevailed in the fifth, staying undefeated in conference play. They are now 8-2 overall and 3-0 in the GLIAC.
The Lakers took the opening two sets 25-23 and 25-20, before Ferris answered back with the next two 22-25 and 19-25. In the fifth set, the two teams battled back and forth, heading to extra points, with GVSU prevailing 17-15.
In the opening set, the two teams battled back and forth for the first 25 points of the set, until the Bulldogs went on a 3-0 run to go up 16-12. They continued to lead by four at 21-17, until the Lakers staged an 8-3 run to close the set and take a 1-0 lead. Much like the opening set, Ferris State held a lead just over midway through the match, up 18-13. Once again, GVSU battled back, going on a 12-2 set ending run, going up 2-0 in the match.
Set three saw Ferris State using a comeback of their own to take their first set. Down 9-6 to open the set, the Bulldogs went on an 8-1 run to take control of the game, holding on for a 25-22 win. Ferris State dominated much of the fourth set, never letting GVSU into the game, forcing a game five. Game five saw GVSU go up 8-5 when the two teams traded sides of the court. Ferris came back to tie the set at nine, eventually going up 11-9 on a 6-0 run. The Bulldogs got to match point at 14-12, but a service error and an attack error to tie it 14. They had another opportunity to close it out, but a kill from
Kendall Stover kicked off a game-ending 3-0 run, capped off by a block from
Brianna Stawski and
Kate Goudreau.
Meghan O'Sullivan had a monster game, posting 16 kills, 19 assists, 11 digs on a .394 hitting percentage.
Kennedy Arp had 11 kills, swinging .313, adding four solo blocks.
Brianna Stawski recorded nine kills, with
Sara Pahl totaling eight kills.
Kendall Stover notched 19 digs and seven kills.
Caroline Baker dished out 30 assists and
McKenzie Johnson posted 23 digs.
Up Next
GVSU closes out the weekend Saturday afternoon, traveling to Davenport for a 3:00 match.
