Oct. 13, 2007

Box Score

#8 Grand Valley State extended its winning streak to 17 straight matches with a thrilling 3-2 (24-30, 31-29, 30-27, 29-31, 15-11) victory over #10 Hillsdale on Saturday afternoon in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers improve to 22-2 overall and are now the only undefeated team in the GLIAC with a 12-0 record. The Chargers fall to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in GLIAC play. Grand Valley will play the next four matches on the road, beginning with Lake Superior State on Oct. 19 at 7:00.

Hillsdale jumped out early in game one, taking an 11-6 lead. The Chargers added on six more points to go up, 17-6. GVSU cut the lead to five points, 24-19, but Hillsdale went back up by seven, 27-20. The Lakers cut the lead to five, but it wasn't enough as the Chargers won game one, 30-24.

Game two went back and forth in the beginning as the two teams tied at 6-6. The Lakers then went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-6 lead. Hillsdale cut the lead to three points, 24-21, and then tied the game at 26-26. Hillsdale took a two points, 28-26 lead, but the Lakers tied the game at 28. GVSU scored the next point, but the Chargers tied the game up 29. The Lakers scored the final two points to win game two 31-29 and tie the match at one game apiece.

Hillsdale took a 4-0 lead in game three and the Lakers came back to tie the game at 7-7. The two teams battled back and forth and tied the game again at 16-16. Hillsdale took a 20-16 lead, but the Lakers tied the game at 26-26. The Lakers scored the next three points and took a 29-26 lead. The Chargers scored one point, but the Lakers won the game on the next play, 30-27.

Game four was a constant battle between the two teams with neither team taking more than a two point lead. The game consisted of 16 lead changes, however, Hillsdale closed out the game by two straight kills to seal the 31-29 win.

The two teams went back and forth in the beginning of game five, tying the game six times until the score was 6-6. The Lakers then went on a 3-0 run to go up 9-6 and then pushed their lead to 12-7. Hillsdale cut the lead to three points, 13-10, but the Lakers held on and won the game 15-11.

Grand Valley hit .225 as a team in the match, while Hillsdale posted a .216 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded a career-high 23 kills, three digs, one solo, and two assisted blocks, while hitting .400 in the match. Junior outside hitter Lauren Reber tallied 17 kills, 18 digs, and three assisted blocks, while senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple added 11 kills, seven digs, one solo, and three assisted blocks. Freshman middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin posted 10 kills and seven assisted blocks and sophomore outside hitter Kaity Gormley had seven kills and three digs. Junior setter Jamie Ashmore recorded seven kills, 13 digs, four assisted blocks, and a career-high 62 assists. Senior libero Allyson Riley added 23 digs, while redshirt freshman Janelle Beaudry added 19 digs.

The Lakers will play their next four matches on the road. GVSU will travel to Lake Superior State on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m., Michigan Tech on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 1:00 p.m., and Northern Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1:00 p.m. GVSU will then play at Ferris State on Oct. 26 at 5:00 p.m.