In one of #13 Grand Valley State's top all-around efforts of the 2014 season, the Lakers handled visiting Northern Michigan in straight sets on Friday night (Oct. 24) in Allendale. The Lakers won their 25th consecutive GLIAC match by topping the Wildcats, 25-19, 25-15, and 25-12.

GVSU rolled to their 12th straight league victory this season by hitting .269 offensively and forcing Northern Michigan - who entered the match at 10-1 in GLIAC play and a tie for second place - into a -.052 attack percentage. The Lakers improve to 16-3 overall and 12-0 in the GLIAC, while NMU drops to 10-11 on the year and 10-2 in the conference.

In the early going, it appeared the match would be relatively even, as there were four ties and NMU was actually on top by scores of 9-5 and 14-7. The Wildcat lead extended to 17-12 before Grand Valley State responded with one of their best streaks of the season. From the 17-12 deficit, the Lakers scored 30 of the next 35 points in the match.

The takeover all started with a Wildcat service error. Senior setter Kaitlyn Wolters followed by serving up eight consecutive points, which included an ace and featured kills from seniors Abby Aiken, Ally Simmons, and Kourtney Wolters. At that point, the Lakers were on top 20-17. Northern Michigan received back-to-back kills to make the score 20-19, but GVSU again answered by scoring the final five points of the opening set. Simmons tallied kills on three of the five points, with the other two coming on NMU errors.

Set two started much like how set one ended. Grand Valley State raced out to a 16-2 advantage, which again featured strong serving from Kaitlyn Wolters and senior libero Christina Canepa. Simmons recorded four blocks (one solo) during the opening surge, while junior Betsy Ronda put down a pair of kills. The early lead afforded head coach Deanne Scanlon use of her bench to gain some valuable experience and also the opportunity to rest the starters. Late in the set, sophomore Rachel Dickerson teamed with freshman Sydney Doby for a combined block and junior Jessica Majerle ended the frame with a kill from senior Clair Ruhenkamp.

GVSU continued to play strong in the third set. After being tied at 4-4, the Lakers tallied an 11-1 run, as senior Abby Aiken notched a pair of kills, Ronda added a kill and an ace, and Simmons recorded a kill and combined with Kourtney Wolters for a combined block. After leading 15-5, Grand Valley State closed out the set on a 25-12 win.

In two of the three sets, Northern Michigan hit in the negative. The Wildcats attacked at a -.083 mark in set two and a -.130 clip in the final frame. GVSU's best effort came in the second set, with eight kills and just one error for a .350 percentage.

The Lakers tallied more kills (31-20), assists (28-20), digs (47-33), and blocks (9-4) than Northern Michigan, as the Wildcats committed 25 hitting errors. NMU tallied seven aces to GVSU's six.

Simmons provided a team-best seven kills, while having a hand in six total blocks. Ronda did not commit a hitting error, while supplying five kills and seven digs. Kaitlyn Wolters handed out 17 assists and aded six digs, three blocks, and three aces. Canepa's 11 digs led all players, while Aiken picked up 10 digs.

GVSU returns to the Fieldhouse Arena on Saturday (Oct. 25) against Michigan Tech in a match that is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start.