Box Score The Ashland University volleyball team lost, 3-1 tonight (Oct. 12) against the Lakers of Grand Valley State. The Lakers defeated the Eagles 22-25, 26-14, 25-17, 27-25.
Ashland now moves to 13-4 overall and 7-2 in the GLIAC. Grand Valley is 14-3 and 8-1 in the conference.
Although it was close, AU had control of the first set from the start. The Eagles scored the first three points and led the Lakers the rest of the set. Grand Valley closed the gap and got within one of Ashland at 20-19. But the Eagles kept their lead and won 25-22.
The second set was a close back-and-forth battle. The score was tied five times and the lead changed three times. Late in the set the score was tied at 24-24 after a kill by Samantha Zuber from Shelly DeHenning. Kaitlyn Wolters of GVSU then scored off a set by Betsy Ronda to gain the 25-24 advantage. The set ended on a ball handling error by DeHenning. Senior Baley Bernthisel led the offense in the second set tallying four kills.
The Lakers came out strong in the third set, taking an early 7-2 lead. After two kills in a row from Bernthisel the Eagles came within one of the Lakers at 14-13. Grand Valley won the next four points to make the score 18-13. GVSU closed the set, 25-17.
Set number four was close from the start. The set featured eight lead changes and 18 ties. After rallying back and fourth from the first point, the game was tied at 18-18 late in the set. Casey Clark served an ace to go up 19-18. GVSU scored the next point to tie the set again, this time at 19-19. AU won the next three points forcing the Lakers to take a timeout. The teams would tie the score four more times after the 22-19 mark; lastly at 25-25 where the Lakers won the last two points of the set and match defeating the Eagles, 3-1.
As a team Ashland tallied 45 kills on 174 attempts. The Eagles had 43 assists, two aces, 78 digs, and 12 blocks on the night. Bernthisel led the offense with 11 kills, hitting .111 over the four-set contest. Senior Maureen Johnson had seven kills on 15 attempts with zero errors. Johnson was a blocking force throughout the match. She had a match-high six block assists. Bernthisel had four. Megan Rohlfs had 23 digs.
The Lakers were led by Abby Aiken, who had 21 kills and 17 digs.
Up next the Eagles play at Northwood on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m.
AU
VB/ROC
