Sept. 6, 2008

Box Score

Denver, Colo. - GVSU responded after a tough 3-2 loss to #15 Augustana earlier in the day to defeat Metro State, 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 26-28, 25-15) on Friday night. It was the second match of the day for the #7 Lakers at the Regis Premier Challenge in Denver, Colo.

The Lakers improve to 4-2 on the year, while Metro State falls to 2-3. With the win over the Roadrunners, GVSU finishes the opening day round-robin style tournament and will face Chico State at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday in the `Silver' bracket. Central Missouri and West Florida will play in the bracket's other match at 2:00 p.m. ET. The losers of the two matches will square off at 4:30 p.m. ET, while the winning teams battle in the first place match at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Metro State led set one, 1-0, and would not lead again for the rest of the set. GVSU scored four straight points and extended its lead to 10-4. The Lakers would lead by as many as nine points on several occasions before scoring the set's final two points and winning, 25-16. Grand Valley State used a match-best .412 hitting percentage (18 kills, four errors) in victory.

The Lakers jumped ahead 7-2 in the early part of the second set. After fighting back, the Roadrunners tied the match at 13-13 and score five of the next six points to lead 18-14. It was Grand Valley State's turn to battle back and that they did, knotting the set at 20-20. GVSU had enough momentum to net five of the final six points and take set two, 25-21.

Neither team hit well in the second set. The Lakers totaled 10 kills and nine errors for a .040 attack clip, while Metro State had a -.095 hitting percentage due to just six kills and eight attack errors.

Metro State opened up a small lead in the third set, taking a four-point advantage on a few occasions. That would be the biggest lead of the set, as GVSU rallied from trailing 19-15 to tie the set at 22-22. The set would be tied again three more times before the Roadrunners notched the final two points to steal the third set. Metro State had its' best offensive set of the match, hitting .368 with 18 kills and only four errors. Grand Valley State also hit well, tallying 16 kills, five errors, and a .306 attack mark.

GVSU trailed early in the fourth set, 3-0, before putting together a 15-6 run to take a commanding lead. The Roadrunners would not score consecutive points again in the set, as the Lakers closed the victory with a 25-15 score. A .385 hitting percentage (12 kills, only two errors) coupled with Metro State's .094 clip (nine kills, six errors) pushed GVSU to the win.

For the match, the Lakers hit .298 with 56 kills. GVSU also recorded eight service aces, 12.0 total team blocks, and 51 digs. It held the Roadrunners to a .191 attack percentage and 42 kills.

Three different Lakers tallied 11 kills in the match, as seniors Danielle Alexander (three service aces, six block assists) and Lauren Reber (11 digs, two aces) and sophomore Rebeccah Rapin (.526 hitting percentage, four block assists) all accomplished that feat. Senior Jamie Ashmore totaled 46 assists, six kills, and six digs.

GVSU is now 2-0 against Metro State under head coach Deanne Scanlon and leads the all-time series, 3-2.