Nov. 16, 2007

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#6 Grand Valley State knocked off #13 SIUE, 3-1 (30-25, 23-30, 30-26, 30-14), in the second semifinal final match of the Great Lakes Region Tournament held in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers improve to 32-3 overall and will play for the Great Lakes Region Tournament Championship against #17 Lewis on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.

The first game went back and forth between the two teams before the Lakers took a 9-6 lead. SIUE tied the game at 10-10 and the game tied four more times prior to GVSU taking a 19-15 lead. The Cougars cut the lead to 24-23, but the Lakers pushed their lead back to 26-23. The Cougars came within two, 27-25, but GVSU closed out the game by scoring the final three points to win, 30-25.

The Lakers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game two and quickly pushed it to 10-3. SIUE went on a 15-5 run to take an 18-15 lead. GVSU cut the lead to two points, 22-20, but the Cougars then went on a 6-0 to take a 28-20 lead. SIUE scored the next two out of four points to win game two, 30-23. The Cougars hit .348 in game two, while the Lakers hit just .186.

The two teams tied game three at 3-3 and then the Cougars went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. The Lakers came back and tied the game at 9-9 and then had to fight back again to tie the game at 13-13. GVSU then went on a 3-0 run to take a 16-13 lead, but SIUE came back to tie it at 20-19. GVSU scored the next four points go ahead, 24-19 and the Cougars cut the lead again to 25-23. The Lakers took the next three points, going up, 28-23, and fought off a late Cougar rally to win the game, 30-26.

Grand Valley State took a commanding 8-0 lead in the fourth game. SIUE went on a 6-5, cutting the lead to 13-6. The Lakers continued to dominate, taking a 12 point, 22-10 lead. Grand Valley ended the game on an 8-4 run to win game four, 30-14.

Grand Valley hit .240 as a team, while SIUE tallied a .182 hitting percentage. The Lakers recorded seven service aces and 11 blocks in the match, while the Cougars had two aces and 6.5 blocks.

Freshman Rebeccah Rapin tallied a career-high 17 kills and added five assisted blocks and a .417 hitting percentage for the Lakers. Junior middle blocker Danielle Alexander recorded 11 kills, five assists, five assisted blocks, and three digs, while junior outside hitter Lauren Reber added 10 kiils, 13 digs, and two assisted blocks. Senior middle blocker Erica Vandekopple posted nine kills and four assisted blocks and junior setter Jamie Ashmore had 44 assists, 23 digs, eight kills, and two assisted blocks. Sophomore libero Meredith Young tallied 23 kills, while redshirt freshman Janelle Beaudry added 14 digs and two aces.

Grand Valley State will play Lewis for the Great Lakes Region Championship title on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The winner will move on the Elite Eight. Grand Valley has won the regional crown five times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005).