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Nov. 10, 2006
#7 Grand Valley State dropped a 3-2 (30-28, 22-30, 30-25, 26-30, 15-10) decision to #14 SIU-Edwardsville in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Region Tournament Friday night in Hillsdale, Mich. The Lakers end their season with a 27-4 overall record, while the Cougars improve to 29-5 and advances to the championship match on Saturday.
SIUE came out strong in game one, taking a 15-10 lead. GVSU cut the leaed to three points (19-16), but the Cougars pushed it back to five with a 27-22 lead. GVSU scored five of the next seven points to cut the lead to 29-28, but SIUE put the game away on a kill to win 30-28.
It was GVSU's turn to dominate early, taking a 9-2 lead. SIUE fought back to trail by three (13-10), but Grand Valley went on a streak to take a 22-15 lead. SIUE cut the lead to four points, 26-22, but GVSU scored the next four points to claim a 30-22 victory.
The Cougars jumped out to a 16-7 lead in game three. GVSU tried to fight back numerous times, but the lead was too much for them to overcome. SIUE had four straight game points, but GVSU won them all. The Cougars put the game away on a kill by Kate Hofeldt, winning 30-25.
Game four went back and forth, with both teams taking leads numerous times. The two teams tied the game at 10-10 and then SIUE went up 18-15. The Lakers fought back to tie the game at 20-20 and went on to take a 25-23 lead of their own. SIUE tied the game again at 25-25, but GVSU scored four straight points to take a 29-25 lead. The Lakers won the game, 30-26, on a block by Erica Vandekopple and Danielle Alexander.
GVSU went up 3-1 in game five, but SIUE scored eight out of nine points to take a commanding 11-4 lead. The Lakers made a run scoring four straight points, but couldn't overcome the Cougar lead. SIUE won game five, 15-10.
Grand Valley tallied a .250 hitting percentage in the match, while SIUE hit .283. GVSU posted three more kills, six more aces, and two more blocks than the Cougars.
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Senior middle blocker Meghan Moore recorded 23 kills, marking the second straight day she had more than 20 kills. She also added three assisted blocks, while hitting .381. Senior outside hitter Megan Helsen posted 17 kills, four aces, eight digs, and one solo and three assisted blocks, while junior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple added 13 kills, two digs, and four assisted blocks.
Sophomore setter Jamie Ashmore tallied seven kills, a career-high 56 assists, two aces, and six digs and junior libero Alyson Riley had 23 digs and two four service aces. Sophomore middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded six kills, three digs, and three assisted blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Reber added five kills, five digs, and two aces.
Senior Megan Helsen moved her way into GVSU's record books after an outstanding four-year stint with the Lakers. Helsen ranks seventh in kills (1,267), fifth in total attacks (3,442), third in aces (216), and fourth in digs (1,297) on GVSU's career records list. Helsen helped the Lakers to a 116-25 (.823) overall record in her four seasons. Senior Meghan Moore ended her two year career with 819 kills, 36 aces, 135 digs, 51 solo and 245 assisted blocks, and a .338 hitting percentage.
