Basketball - M Basketball - W Swimming - M Swimming - W In. Track & Field - M In. Track & Field - W


Baseball Golf - M Golf - W Softball Tennis - M Out. Track & Field - M Out. Track & Field - W


Cross Country - M Cross Country - W Football Golf - M Golf - W Soccer - M Soccer - W Tennis - W Volleyball


All-Time Champions Archives Awards Breast Cancer Awareness Championships Corporate Partners GLIAC History Media Links Members News Archives President's Trophy S.A.A.C. S.I.D. Page Schedule Change Request Staff Directory Other Links













Sep 8, 2008

GVSU's Rapin and Tiffin's Teaford Named GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division Players of the Week, Respectively


--Click here for printer-friendly (PDF) version of release--

Bay City, Mich. -- Grand Valley State University sophomore middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin and Tiffin University sophomore middle hitter Brittany Teaford have been selected as the GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division Players of the Week, respectively.

Rebeccah Rapin - Grand Valley State North Division Player of the Week:
Rebeccah Rapin - Grand Valley State
(SO, MB, Saginaw, Mich. / Nouvel CC)

Grand Valley State University middle blocker Rebeccah Rapin helped lead the Lakers to a 3-1 weekend at the Regis Premier Challenge, including a pair of 3-0 sweeps over top-25 teams. The sophomore recorded 43 kills in four matches (2.87 kills per set) and committed only 11 attack errors for a .389 hitting percentage. Rapin was second on the team with 14 total blocks, including 12 block assists for GVSU, which swept both #21 Chico State and #19 West Florida on Saturday.

North Division Weekly Honor Roll:
Arielle Goodson - FS; Kelly Jorgensen - MT; Mandie Meyer - NM; Katie Fitzgerald - SV.

Brittany Teaford - Tiffin University South Division Player of the Week:
Brittany Teaford - Tiffin
(SO, MH, Greenville, Ohio / Greenville)

Over 17 games last week, Tiffin sophomore middle hitter Brittany Teaford averaged 3.18 kills per game and 1.76 blocks as TU went 5-0 to improve to 8-1. Teaford opened the week with 13 kills and five blocks against Heidelberg while hitting .348, then led TU with 11 more kills and eight blocks against District of Columbia. She continued her strong play with 12 more kills (.800 pct.) and five blocks as TU hit .386 in the win against Davis & Elkins. She then totaled nine kills apiece and 12 more blocks in wins over Pitt-Johnstown and Bluefield State.

South Division Weekly Honor Roll:
Amanda Stefanski - AU; Jenny Slone UF; Ashlee Crowder - HC; Gordana Barac - NU; Kim Gear - WS.

--GLIAC Volleyball Weekly Notes--

Ashland - Ashland won the Alaska Fairbanks Classic in their first ever trip to the Alaskan tundra. The Eagles went 2-1 over the weekend with wins over St. Cloud State and Alaska Fairbanks. The lone loss came to Catawba. Freshman Anesia Benton was named tournament MVP, and junior Amanda Stefanski was named to the all-tournament team. The Eagles improved their record to 2-0 in 5-set matches, last season AU went 0-3 in 5-set matches. Benton set a collegiate career high with 19 kills against Alaska Fairbanks. Freshman Arian Martin set her collegiate career high in digs with 22 against Alaska Fairbanks as well. The Eagles open up GLIAC play this week in Hillsdale on Friday and travel to Findlay on Saturday.

Ferris State - Sophomore middle hitter Arielle Goodson's (Grand Rapids/Central) 14 kills versus nationally-ranked Tampa Saturday (9/6) at the Tampa (Fla.) Classic represented a career single-match high, eclipsing her 13 kills set against Eckerd Friday (9/5) in a Tampa Classic contest. Goodson has amassed 74 kills (8.2 avg.) in nine matches this season compared to 37 kills (4.1 avg.) a season ago in the team's initial nine encounters...Junior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist (Macomb/Anchor Bay) moved into 30th place on Ferris State's all-time kills leaders list with a current 602 career kills in 69 matches. The 2007 All-GLIAC Second-Team pick is now 72 kills away from tying Kelly Stosik (1986-89; 674 career total) for 29th place. She has compiled 46 kills in nine matches to date this campaign. Gilchrist also ranks 24th in FSU annals with 211 career total blocks and is one shy of tying Tracie Henne (1990-93; 212 career total) for 23rd-place honors...Ferris State is 13-5 (.722) in conference openers since 1990, which includes a 5-3 road ledger in those matches during that period. The Bulldogs have won eight of their last 10 league openers to date . FSU notched a 3-1 home triumph over Lake Superior State in last season's (9/14) GLIAC opener at Big Rapids, Mich.

Findlay - Amanda Binggeli and Erin Thomasson were named to the All-Tournament team as Findlay finished 3-1 at the TownePlace Suites Classic. The Oilers improved their record and their game play from the previous weekend with tough serving and finishing each match with a team hitting% above their season average. Findlay opened with a win over Gannon (3-0) and finished the first day with a loss to a strong California (Pa) team (1-3). Findlay came back the second day with renewed focus to beat Wheeling Jesuit (3-1) with a season high team hitting % of .238; and completed the second day sweep by defeating a diligent Bellarmine team (3-2). The Oilers success was lead by a balanced attack, aggressive serving, and great team effort. Findlay has 2 mid-week matches at home against Urbana and Tiffin, and finishes out the week hosting Madonna and Ashland.

Grand Valley State - Grand Valley State completed consecutive 3-1 weekends, winning its last three matches at the Regis Premier Challenge in Denver, Colo...GVSU swept a pair of top-25 teams on Saturday, blanking #21 Chico State and #19 West Florida...The Lakers have faced five nationally-ranked opponents in their eight matches this season, going 3-2 in those contests. GVSU has defeated Pittsburg State (#17), Chico State (21), and West Florida (19), while dropping matches to Truman State (3) and Augustana (15)...Grand Valley State had a very balanced offensive attack over the weekend, with three players totaling 40 or more kills. Seniors Lauren Reber (Flint, Mich./Carman-Ainsworth) and Danielle Alexander (Newport, Mich./Airport), who were both named to the Regis Premier Challenge All-Tournament Team, led the Lakers on both sides of the court. Reber tallied 48 kills, a .333 hitting percentage, 37 digs, and 10 total blocks. Alexander notched 44 kills, a .353 attack percentage, five service aces, and 20 total blocks...Grand Valley State opens up its home schedule on Wednesday against nearby Davenport University at 7 p.m.

Hillsdale - Weekly Team Notes: The 11th-ranked Hillsdale College volleyball team is off to a 7-2 start to the season after going 4-1 last week...The Chargers played their first-ever match against Lake Erie College in their 2008 home opener Tuesday, winning 3-0...Three of Hillsdale's four wins last week came by 3-0 sweeps...In their last 74 matches, the Chargers are 62-12, dating back to the beginning of the 2006 season...Hillsdale has won 25 straight regular season home matches, a streak that started in October of 2005...Freshmen Ashlee Crowder and Clara Leuthesuer were each named to the All-Tournament Team at the TownPlace Suites Classic at the University of Findlay...Crowder had at least 11 kills in all four matches at the tournament, while Leutheuser led the team in blocks...The Chargers started four freshmen in the third set vs. Gannon Saturday...Head coach Chris Gravel is six wins away from the 250 mark for his career...Senior Stephanie Booms needs less than 500 assists to become Hillsdale's all-time leader in that category.

Lake Superior State - LSSU heads into this week's GLIAC season-opener at NMU with a 1-3 record...Junior outside hitter Ali Jones (Fruitport, Mich.) led the Lakers at last weekend's Minnesota-Crookston Tournament with 34 kills, averaging 3.09 kills per game. Jones and senior setter Ashley Purvis (Lapeer, Mich.) led in service aces with seven each, while freshman libero Brittany Newberry (Iron Mountain, Mich.) led in digs with 36 despite sitting out one match due to a minor injury. Freshman middle hitter Jeanna Radzinski (Sterling Heights, Mich.) totaled a team-high six blocks...The Lakers' starting lineup included four rookies (Newberry, Radzinski, freshman Janelle Balkwill of Woodslee, Ont., and redshirt freshman Abby Shereda of Freesoil, Mich.). Purvis was a back-up setter behind Erin McLain last season.

Michigan Tech - The Michigan Tech volleyball team split a pair of matches today at the Lewis Flyer Invitational. The Huskies, whose record now stands at 4-2, defeated Winona State 3-0 in its first match before losing to #25 Lewis 3-1 in the second match. In the first match against Winona State, Tech finished with a strong advantage in both attack percentage (.241 to .050) and total blocks (13.0 to 5.0). The Huskies also finished with 40 kills to the Warrior's 29. Senior Christa Jung led the team with 10 kills, 12 digs and a match-high five block assists. Senior Veronica Armstrong finished with a match-high 15 kills to finish as the only other player to finish in double digits in kills. She also finished with 11 digs. Sophomore Kaitlin Wiza finished with 12 digs and senior Kelsey Skoog recorded 34 of the team's 39 assists...The Michigan Tech volleyball team posted a 3-1 victory over Wis. Parkside before dropping a 3-0 match to No. 18 Indianapolis today at the Lewis Flyer Invitational. The Huskies are now 5-3 for the season. The Huskies, who had 12 different players see action in the match, finished with a season-high .377 attack percentage against Wis. Parkside. They also recorded a season-high nine service aces.

Northern Michigan - The Northern Michigan University volleyball team went 3-2 at the Flyer Festival at Lewis University...The Wildcats defeated UW-Parkside, Winona State and St. Joseph's all on Friday then lost to Indianapolis and Nova Southeastern on Saturday...NMU went 5-4 in its pre-GLIAC schedule, the ‘Cats host Lake Superior and Saginaw Valley State this coming weekend to open up GLIAC play...Mandie Meyer, and Cassie Osiecki were named to the Flyer Festival All-Tournament Team... Meyer led the ‘Cats on the weekend with 66 kills while Osiecki had a team-high 94 digs...Caryn VanBeckum seeing her first action of the season had 11 block solos and 14 block assists at Lewis...Meyer currently leads the team with 125 kills on the season...Newcomer, Madeline Ogden has 388 assists to pace the ‘Cats...Emma Wolfe has 29 total blocks on the season (eight solo and 21 assisted)...Osiecki leads NMU with 147 digs.

Northwood - Northwood volleyball went on their mountain west trip to Denver, Colorado to face #6 West Texas A&M and #19 West Florida...Northwood dropped both there matches by the score of 3-0, 3-0 respectively...Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina) led NU with 10 kills against West Texas A&M and had 9 kills against West Florida...Setter Lauren Chapman (Bascom, Ohio) had a double-double, finishing with 25 assists and 11 digs against West Texas A&M... Northwood then participated in the Regis/Metro St. Premier Challenge Tournament where they faced Metro St. and Regis...They won both matches 3-1, 3-0...Again Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina) led Northwood in kills, finishing with 12 ... Ashley Carr (Marysville, Mich.) finished with nine kills and a .529 attack percentage...Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina) once again led Northwood in kills, finishing with 19on 33 attempts (.515) ... Sophomore Slanjana Mitrovic (Lazarevac, Serbia) had a breakout match, finishing with 14 kills and a .385 attack percentage... NU will host Ferris State September 12.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University remained undefeated on season improving its record to 8-0. The Cardinals defeated Western New Mexico in five sets and took down Winona State in five sets later that same evening. Freshman Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) played strong in the middle again this weekend at the Flyer Invitational hosted by Lewis University. Fitzgerald averaged over 11 kills and four blocks a match for the weekend. Teammate Sarah Redoute (Clinton, Twp./L'Anse Creuse) played consistent for the Cardinals and was selected to the all-tournament team. SVSU will open GLIAC play this weekend when they travel to Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

Tiffin - The Dragons hit well as a team this week, posting a .252 attack percentage. Besides Brittany Teaford's 3.18 kills and .398 att. Pct., Brooke Bernabei averaged 3.06 kills, Giavana DiPietro averaged 2.53 kills while hitting .300, Shannon Burke averaged 1.81 while hitting .413, and Beth Willenbrink posted 1.69 kill averages while hitting .262...Lindsay Heller averaged 4.24 digs per game...Jessica Adams had a strong setting week, averaging 11.47 assists over 17 games...TU had 51 aces in five matches, with Heller averaging 0.59, Adams posting a 0.60 mark, and Bernabei totaling 0.50 during that span.

Wayne State - Wayne State went 2-2 at the TownePlace Suites Classic, hosted by the University of Findlay ... wins over Bellarmine and Gannon sandwiched setbacks against Wheeling Jesuit and California (Pa.) ... Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) collected a team-best 45 kills, 22 blocks, and six aces in the tournament ... she has reached double-digit kill totals seven times this season ... Kim Gear (Benton Harbor, Mich./Watervliet) hit .403 with 30 kills and 13 blocks ... Mayssa Bazzi (Dearborn, Mich.) had 53 digs, averaging 3.79 per set ... four of WSU's five wins this season have been three-set sweeps ... Wayne State begins GLIAC play and a five-match homestand Friday against Grand Valley State.