Back on Sept. 5 at the Tampa Classic, the Spartans knocked off Grand Valley State by a 3-0 score, but the sets were all close at 25-22, 25-19, and 25-21. On Thursday night, Tampa (30-3) put together an outstanding offensive match, hitting .350 with 45 kills. The Spartans also outblocked GVSU by a 10-1 tally and held the Lakers to an .047 hitting percentage with 25 kills and 20 attack errors.
In the opening set, Tampa came out of the gates and posted a 15-2 lead to start the match, reeling off 14 straight points after the Lakers led 2-1 on kills from junior Nicole Whiddon and freshman Stacey Catalano. The Spartans owned a 16-3 advantage before GVSU started to get back on track and consecutive kills from senior Rebeccah Rapin from senior Meghan Scanlon made the score 19-8 in UT's favor. Tampa then closed out the frame with a 6-3 run, winning the open set by a 25-11 tally.
GVSU managed to hit just .000 in the first set, recording nine kills and nine errors, while Tampa was on fire with a .357 hitting percentage (12 kills, two errors). The Lakers, entering the match as the nation's top blocking team, were outblocked by UT (the country's sixth-best blocking squad), 6-0.
To open up the second set, Tampa pushed out to a 4-1 lead before Grand Valley State scored on the longest point of the match, a back-and-forth play that last over a minute and ended with Rapin recording the kill. The Spartans then committed an attack error and Rapin and Catalano followed with a strong double block to tie the set at 4-4. A kill from senior Krysta Kornack gave GVSU a 5-4 lead, but Tampa rebounded to take a 10-6 advantage.
Kornack added another kill and was followed by Catalano's service ace to make the score 10-8 midway through the set. The Spartans pushed out to a 16-9 lead before a kill from junior Courtney McCotter ended the 5-0 Tampa spurt and cut the deficit to 16-10. Grand Valley State stayed close, but the Spartans finished the set by scoring nine of the last 13 points and using a .318 hitting percentage to win set two, 25-14.
The Lakers rebounded to start the third set with a 3-1 lead on three more kills from Rapin. Tampa rallied to tie the score and then take a 5-3 advantage before GVSU knotted the tally at 5-5 on a kill from Kornack. A kill from senior Leslie Curtis made the score 10-9 in Tampa's favor and the Lakers managed to tie up the score at 12-12 on a couple of Spartan attack errors. Tampa then scored three consecutive points to build a 15-12 lead, while Catalano's kill made the score 15-13.
GVSU stayed within striking distance, with Kornack notching a kill to make the score 16-14 and Curtis keeping the deficit at two points with a 17-15 score. Tampa then put forth a 4-1 run with the Lakers' point coming on Rapin's kill before GVSU head coach Deanne Scanlon took a timeout, trailing 21-16. The Spartans finished out the set and match with another 4-1 run, ending the frame at 25-17 and the match at 3-0. It was just the fourth time all season the Lakers lost by a 3-0 score and Tampa handed Grand Valley State two of the four sweeps.
Rapin ended her terrific career by leading the Lakers with eight kills and adding three digs and a block assist. Kornack added seven kills, while Curtis led GVSU with 10 digs and notched a pair of kills. Scanlon provided a team-high 13 assists and added eight digs. The senior class of Curtis, Kornack, Rapin, and Scanlon ends their four-year career with a tremendous record of 108-28 overall and 60-9 in GLIAC play. The foursome won three regional championships and advanced to the Elite Eight three times, including an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2008. Curtis, Kornack, Rapin, and Scanlon captured three GLIAC North Division titles and a pair of GLIAC Tournament championships in their time at Grand Valley State.
Finishing off her four-year career, Rapin is GVSU's all-time leader in total blocks (525) and block assists (437). The 2010 AVCA First Team All-American, Rapin also ranks in the career top-10 in three other categories, as the senior middle blocker is seventh in both kills (1,364) and total attacks (3,184), while ranking eighth in hitting percentage (.317).
Tampa vs Grand Valley State (Dec 02, 2010 at Louisville, KY)
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