ALLENDALE, Mich. -- In the seventh meeting between the West Michigan rivals over the last two seasons, #18 Grand Valley State exacted revenge on #17 Ferris State in the NCAA Midwest Region semifinals on Friday night (Nov. 21) in Allendale. The Lakers took down FSU in a straight set sweep (25-22, 26-24, 25-23) to move onto Saturday night's regional championship.

Just five days ago on the same court, the Bulldogs captured the GLIAC Tournament championship over GVSU with a four-set victory. The teams had split a pair of regular season meetings, each one winning on its own home court.

On Friday night, however, Grand Valley State put together arguably its best performance of the season by earning its 20th sweep of the year. The number three seed in the tournament, GVSU is now 25-5 on the season and improves to 13-1 in home matches. Ferris State, the number two seed, sees its season end with a 24-6 record.

The Lakers had to wait a little longer to get the victory, as Friday's first semifinal lasted over two hours long. Top seed Truman State fell in five sets to fourth-seeded Rockhurst, GVSU's opponent in Saturday's championship match.

Grand Valley State put together a solid offensive performance (45 kills, .214 hitting percentage) and a great defensive effort (79-67 edge in digs, 6-4 in blocks) to take down the Bulldogs. Holding FSU to a .120 team hitting percentage, the Lakers did not allow Ferris State to hit higher than .171 in any set.

Senior outside hitter Abby Aiken posted a match-high 20 digs and was also the leader with 13 kills. She was one of five Lakers with six or more kills, while junior Kaleigh Lound added eight kills and three blocks. Seniors Ally Simmons and Kaitlyn Wolters and junior Betsy Ronda all totaled six kills.

The Lakers took a 9-5 lead early in the first set after scoring six straight points, which featured back-to-back-to-back Aiken kills and three consecutive FSU errors. Ferris State tied the score at 14-14, but GVSU responded by scoring the next four points. Aiken tallied a pair of kills and Simmons added another to help the Lakers pull ahead, 18-14. After back-to-back kills from junior Carley Gross and senior Kourtney Wolters pushed the lead to 22-17, FSU could get not closer than two points before Gross and Lound finished the set with kills. The Lakers hit .341 with 18 kills in the opening frame.

It appeared that Ferris State would even the match at 1-1, as the Bulldogs controlled the second set and took a 19-12 cushion. The Lakers began to chip away and pulled within two points on five different occasions. Trailing 24-22, head coach Deanne Scanlon inserted freshman Katie Olson - who had not played since Nov. 1 - to serve. The rookie was terrific, however, as her strong serving pulled GVSU back into the match. Ronda's kill made the score 24-23 and Lound tied things at 24-24. With the crowd roaring, Lound notched a huge solo rejection to put the Lakers on top, 25-24. Another Olson serve led to the final point, as Kaitlyn Wolters finished off the huge comeback with a kill to put GVSU ahead, 2-0.

Understandably, Ferris State would not go quietly. The Bulldogs opened a 12-8 lead in the third frame, but Grand Valley State ran off seven consecutive points - five of which were FSU errors. Trailing 15-12, the Bulldogs rallied to tie the score at 18-18, but GVSU answered with kills from Kaitlyn Wolters and Aiken. With the score tied at 21-21, Aiken put down another kill and the Bulldogs committed another error. A kill from Simmons put the Lakers ahead, 24-22, and one point later, Ronda closed out the sweep with a kill, as the Laker faithful erupted with applause.

Senior libero Christina Canepa picked up a match-best 19 digs, while Ronda added 16 pickups, and Kourtney Wolters supplied 11. Kaitlyn Wolters handed out 34 assists and recorded nine digs, six kills and a .500 hitting percentage, and two solo rejections.

The Lakers have faced Rockhurst once this season; GVSU defeated the Hawks in four sets at the GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament on Oct. 18. Grand Valley State won that match by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 17-25, and 25-22.

Laker Notes
- GVSU improves to 35-13 in NCAA Tournament history, including a 28-6 mark in regional matches
- The Lakers are now 21-3 all-time in regional matches inside the Fieldhouse Arena
- Grand Valley State is looking for its ninth regional championship, having won the title in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010
- Out of their 13 home victories, the Lakers have won a dozen by 3-0 sweep, including each of the last 10 wins inside the Fieldhouse Arena