Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Thursday night the 10th ranked Raiders defeated the 14th ranked Vikings of Glen Oaks 3-0 to remain unbeaten in the conference.  The match was the first ever that both teams were ranked in the NJCAA Division II poll. With the win, the Raiders improved to 13-3 overall (8-0 in MCCAA) while the Vikings dropped to 18-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

Glen Oaks was off to it's best start in program history, starting the season 18-0 before dropping a five set match at Muskegon on Tuesday.  Had they have beaten the Raiders, they would have been in a first place tie, but instead GRCC now holds a two game lead at the mid way point throughout the conference season.  With just eight matches left on the MCCAA schedule, the Raiders now are the front runner to host the MCCAA Championship on November 2nd. That match will feature the champion of Eastern Conference vs. the champion of the Western Conference.

Both teams traded leads for most of the first set, but the Raiders took a 18-17 lead and never looked back taking the set 25-21.  Sophomore Lauren Jonker (Grand Haven, MI) combined on the set winning block, one of her four big blocks on the night.  Freshman Annie Holesinger (Rockford, MI) ripped off six of her match high 17 kills in the set. 

The Raiders trailed just once in the second set and would roll to a 25-15 win.  Holesinger added four more kills while Breanna Wickerink (Lake Odessa, MI) and Danielle Johnston (Comstock Park, MI) had three a piece.  Mykayla Vallad (Rockford, MI) came up big with two of her match high three aces in the set.

The Vikings got off to a 7-1 lead in the third, but the Raiders rallied back and took their first lead of the set, 16-15 after a kill by freshman Jamie Rozell (Grand Rapids, MI).  The Vikings weren't going to leave without a fight and had two set points, but back to back Raider blocks would tie it all up at 24.  Holesinger's 17th kill of the night gave the Raiders a match point and Wickerink and Rozell would combine on a block to finish it off.

The Raiders return to their home court this Saturday as they play host to the annual Raider Challenge that will feature 14 teams and 28 total matches. Click here for a complete schedule of the tournament.

By the numbers:
23: Number of days since the Raiders last dropped a set (winning 16 straight sets)
17: Career high for Kills for Holesinger, who has 10+ kills in 11 matches so far
16: The Raiders conference win streak (They have won 65 of their last 66)
13: Career high for Digs for Holesinger
8: The Raiders overall win streak (last losing on August 31st)
0: Number of Attack Errors for Johnston in 22 attempts (second time this season), hitting .455 for the match

Last night's match also was the premiere of the Raiders first ever live stream on their YouTube page. Click here to subscribe to it. 

To live stream all the Raiders volleyball and basketball games click here. 

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