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ASHLAND, Ohio - As the defending NCAA Division II national champion, Grand Valley State knows a thing or two about winning volleyball matches. The Lakers demonstrated that fact against Northern Kentucky University on Saturday during a 30-18, 30-19, 31-29 victory at the Ashland Tournament. Grand Valley State coasted to wins during the opening two games, and then the top-ranked Lakers rallied from a 29-27 deficit to notch the sweep over the Norse. NKU hit .472 during the third game and built a 29-27 lead. Grand Valley State sophomore setter Jamie Ashmore, however, provided the late-game heroics to give the Lakers the win. NKU converted 19 of 36 attacks in the third game with just two errors to stay in contention, and the Norse appeared on the verge of sending the match to a fourth game after building a 29-27 lead on consecutive kills by Liz Holmes and Andrea Lanham. Ashmore, however, converted two consecutive attacks to tie the score at 29-all, and Alyson Riley gave Grand Valley State a 30-29 lead by serving an ace. Ashmore then ended the match by dumping a perfect attack onto the NKU side of the court for a 31-29 win. Andrea Price and Tristen Dye each recorded eight kills to lead NKU, while Holmes added seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Lanham dished out 26 assists for the Norse. Grand Valley State (6-1) used a strong serving game to record 14 aces, and the Lakers hit .309 for the match. Megan Helsen led Grand Valley State with 11 kills. Ashmore finished with five kills - three during the final four points for the Lakers - and 29 assists. NKU completed the two-day tournament later Saturday by dropping a 23-30, 30-25, 30-15, 30-19 decision to No. 9 North Alabama. Kasie Spencer led the Lions with 18 kills and attacked at a .500 clip. North Alabama setter Laura Bellinger added 11 kills, 44 assists and hit .476. The Lions hit .441 during each of the final two games to roll past NKU. Kristina Eisenmenger led the Norse (3-6) with 21 kills, while Holmes collected 13 kills and hit .524. Lanham ran the offense and finished with 49 assists, 14 digs and three kills. Holmes, a junior middle hitter from Mercy High School in Cincinnati, now has 957 career kills at NKU. Holmes was later named to the all-tournament team. NKU begins Great Lakes Valley Conference play Tuesday with a road match against Kentucky Wesleyan. Five of the Norse’s six losses during the first two weeks of the season have come against nationally ranked teams in the NCAA Division II poll. |
