Sweep of rival Grand Valley puts SVSU in first place

November 2, 2009 —

The match against Grand Valley State University began with the presentation of the Ryder Female Athlete of the Year award to alumnus Sarah Redoute. Redoute was selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention Team in December of 2008.

She broke the previous career kill record of 1,240 set in the 1990s with 1,281 kills. She also had an outstanding 1,188 career digs, placing her at fifth in SVSU dig records.

After the awards ceremony, the Lady Cards swept the Lakers off their feet 3-0 in the match on Saturday.

The first two matches concluded with the same 25-17 score, and the packed gym let their girls know they were appreciated.

Senior setter Kait Harris, who was chosen as the 2009 Week 8 GLIAC North Division “Player of Week” last week had a solid match with 35 assists. Sophomore libero Laura Ward also had an impact from the very beginning, immediately giving SVSU an advantage. She managed 29 digs for the match.

The Cardinals' score was kept at 22 as the Lakers took 5 points until senior middle hitter Jaclyn Carnago's line hit rocketed past GVSU to break the streak.

The Lakers were sloppy in the second game, letting the Lady Cards take the lead early. Sophomore middle hitter Katherine Fitzgerald had a good game, landing a cross hit to kick start the girls and winning the game point with a block.

She had help from junior opposite outside hitter Jessica Treiber who got the girls to game point with a well-placed kill and had 13 kills for the entire match.

In the third game, the Lakers decided to put up more of a fight. The two teams went point-forpoint, always within 2 points of each other. It didn't look good for SVSU when the Lakers took the lead at 23- 24, but soon the game was back in a struggle to pull ahead , tied up at 24 and then 25.

Treiber's kills stood out this game as well as senior outside hitter Allison Schlinkert (the Week 6 GLIAC North Division Player of the Week), whose 11 overall match kills aided the win, particularly one that gave the girls the lead at 25-24. The game went to 29-17, and the Lady Cards triumphed overall.