Box Score Grand Rapids, Mich. – It was Sophomore Night Thursday, as the 7th ranked Raiders took care of business in an efficient fashion over the visiting Cougars of Kalamazoo Valley Community College. With the win, the Raiders improved to 21-2 (14-1) with just one more conference match remaining. The Cougars dropped to 12-19 (6-9). Set scores: 25-14, 25-6, 25-11.
Thursday also marked the return of Sophomore Middle's, Kayla Salyer (Coopersville, MI) and Ally German (Fruitport, MI), who didn't miss a beat, dominating the visitors all night long. In set one, Salyer ripped off four kills (hit .571) as her team closed the set on a 13-4 run to win the set by 11. Dani Johnston (Comstock Park, MI) added four kills of her own while Bre Wickerink (Lake Odessa, MI) was perfect three for three while adding a block. GRCC hit a whopping .500 with 15 kills and just one error.
The offensive landslide continued in set two as the home squad hit .500 once again with eight kills and no errors. In fact the Raiders had no errors what so ever in the set rolling to a 25-6 victory. Kendra DeJonge (Rockford, MI) had three kills and an ace while German picked up three blocks.
The sophomore class of eight finished strong in the final set as they all saw action and even accumulated all 14 kills and 11 of the 13 total digs. Setter, Autumn Severn (New Lothrup, MI) stole the show, especially late in the set and she brought down four kills to go with her six assists. Kelsie Schultz (Fruitport, MI) picked up six digs while Salyer and DeJonge also knocked down four kills each.
The Raider offense shattered their season high by almost 300 points as they hit .493 for the match, with 37 kills and just three errors. Their previous best was a .302 performance against Waubonsee back on August 31st. A total of ten different Raiders had at least one kill with Salyer (.615) and DeJonge (.389) leading the way with eight kills each. Severn and Johnston had five each while Wickerink chipped in with four on just five attempts. Defensively, Schultz led the way with 13 digs while German had three blocks.
Friday and Saturday, October 19th and 20th, the Raiders will take part in the Lincoln Land Invite where they will play the 2nd ranked Parkland College Cobras as well as three other elite programs. First match gets underway Friday at 4:00 PM EST against 15th ranked Lincoln Land.
Game Notes:
-It was the 15th sweep in the past nine seasons over Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
-The Raiders in the "Chip Will" era (12 seasons) are now 26-8 against Jackson, including winners of seven in a row!
-The Raiders guaranteed themselves their 8th conference championship (3rd straight) and a number one seed in the Regional tournament coming up on November 1st in Port Huron, Michigan.
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