GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Panthers complete the comeback of the season after being down two sets to the Lakers of Grand Valley State. Davenport won sets three and four to force a fifth set. In the fifth set the Panthers rode the energy of the crowd to victory and completed an epic comeback. The Panthers are now 3-1 in GLIAC play and have proved they shouldn't be taken lightly by the rest of the conference.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport 3, Grand Valley State 2
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Records: Davenport 7-5 (3-1), Grand Valley State 5-7 (2-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
-SET SCORES: 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 26-24, 16-14
-After winning the initial point in the first set Davenport never led again. Grand Valley kept winning points at key times to make sure the Panthers didn't make a comeback. After a kill by
Laura Bouwkamp DU only trailed 21-23, the Lakers won the next two points to finish the set 25-21.
-The Lakers opened the second set on a big 9-3 run. Davenport made a 7-1 run of their own to tie the set 10-10. After a couple Grand Valley subs the Lakers took their lead back and were up 19-13. Davenport wasn't able to string enough points together and fell 25-18.
-After two sets of play the Panthers were down 2-0 and had their backs against the wall for the remainder of the match. In the third set the teams were tied 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, and 18-18, proving how back and forth the set was. A three point run shortly after all the ties gave Davenport enough momentum to get a win in set three and push the game into a fourth set.
-In the fourth set the Panthers built upon their momentum, jumping out to a lead of 16-10. The Lakers made a big time run towards the end of the set, scoring six un-answered points. All six of the points were made when DU was one point away from winning the set. After the set was tied 24-24 back to back DU kills drove this match into a fifth set.
-The fifth set of this match was electric and wildly entertaining. The Lakers built up an 8-4 lead before DU took a timeout. Immediately following the timeout Davenport went on a four point run to tie up the set 8-8. The biggest stretch for DU was when they were down 10-13 and scored four straight points. To finish that run
Kasey Stehouwer had two straight service aces and gave DU a match point opportunity. The Lakers got the point and the set was tied 14-14. A kill by
Charlie Smith gave DU a 15-14 lead.
Jenna Asper subbed into the game and served, after a couple volleys
Sydney Tracer earned a dig, Stehouwer set the ball back to Tracer and she blasted one at the Laker's blockers to earn the match winning kill.
COACHES CORNER
Head coach
Megan Lenhart after the match stated that "Our team learned a lot of important lessons tonight. I'm so proud of their fight and perseverance. They never gave up!"
UP NEXT
The Panthers don't get much time to enjoy this comeback win. They will host Wayne State in less than 24 hours following the conclusion of the Grand Valley match. The game will start at 4:00pm on Saturday and will be played in the DU Student Center.
Story by:
Devin Steiner
Photo credit: Tyler Triemstra
