Dec. 5, 2003

Box Score

Grand Valley State fell, 3-1 (21-30, 30-25, 29-31, 26-30) in the NCAA Division II Semifinals to North Alabama Friday night in San Bernardino, California. The Lakers conclude their season with a 30-8 overall record.

North Alabama came out strong and took a 14-9 lead in game one and never looked back. Grand Valley came within four as the Lakers cut the score to 20-16. However, a combination of GVSU errors coupled with great passing by the Lions, put North Alabama up 23-17 to force a Grand Valley timeout. The Lions ended the game with a 7-4 run to seal the win.

Game two started off with a 3-3 tie before Head Coach Deanne Scanlon brought in junior Leah Kunz at setter in so senior Nicole Bayle could be used as a hitter. Kunz scored two straight points to give the Lakers a 5-3 lead. The game was tied up again at 7-7, but GVSU scored five straight points to take the 12-7 lead on a Bayle service ace. Scanlon took a timeout to regain her team's composure as the Lions came back and tied the score at 21-21. GVSU scored three consecutive points to force North Alabama to take a timeout. The Lakers scored six straight points and went on to win game two 30-25 and tie the match at a game apiece.

North Alabama took a 3-2 lead to start off game three, but Grand Valley battled back once again to tally a 6-3 lead. Senior Sabrina Bird recorded two straight service aces to put the Lakers up 13-7 and force the Lions into a timeout. North Alabama outscored the Lakers 22-16 to tie the game at 29-29. The Lions scored the next point, which gave them their first lead of the game since they were up, 3-2. North Alabama finished the game, 31-29 on a Grand Valley attack error to give them the 2-1 game edge in the match.

The fourth game provided the same consistency as the first three, as whenever one team would take a lead, the other would battle back to tie the game. North Alabama started the game with a 2-0 lead, but Grand Valley came back and outscored the Lions 10-5 to take a 10-7 lead. The two teams battled back and forth tying the game at 17, then 20, before North Alabama outscored the Lakers, 5-0, to take a 25-20 lead. Grand Valley cut the lead to three, but North Alabama battled back for the final time to seal the 30-26 game four victory.

Stephanie Maciasz led the way with 15 kills for the Lakers, and Bird added 10 kills and seven blocks. Bayle recorded 10 kills, 33 assists, and eight digs. Molly Young led the team with 15 digs.

"We tried everything to stop Jana (Ninova) and she was just phenomenal," said Head Coach Deanne Scanlon. "We had a chance to win game three with the lead we had and we gave it away. That was the turning point of the match."

"We have fought hard all year and have haven't had any easy wins all year," added Scanlon. "I am very proud of this team."

"We have worked hard at every point every single time," said Bayle. "What I am most proud of as a senior is that we have put together a winning program at Grand Valley."

"At the beginning of the year, nobody thought we would have made it to the championships," said Bird. "But we battled through five game matches along the way and made it to the Elite Eight for the fourth straight year."