Louisville, Ky.----The 18th-ranked Grand Valley State University Lakers defeated No. 12 Wingate University 3-0 in the NCAA Division II volleyball national quarterfinals Thursday afternoon. GVSU won by scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-21 to improve to 27-5 overall, advancing to the national semifinals Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs end their season at 34-3 overall.

The Bulldogs were playing in their fourth NCAA Elite Eight in the last five years. The three-time defending NCAA Southeast Regional champions have won four regional titles in the last five years to go along with nine SAC regular season and tournament championships. The Bulldogs are 261-18 overall over their past eight seasons, while making 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

"We  are very proud of being able to win our regional championship and get to this Elite Eight event," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Our players were well aware that we were playing a team that is playing at a higher level than any team we have played all season and that proved to be the case today. We fought hard to close some of the point differentials and we expected to have to do that, but we came up short against a very good team. This Elite Eight experience is awesome for our players in so many ways, with the match today being a part of it of course. Our seniors should be proud of their accomplishments and our young players learned a lot with this experience."

Abby Aiken had 13 kills and 13 digs to lead the Grand Valley attack. Betsy Ronda added nine kills, nine digs and four blocks, while Kaitlyn Wolters had 29 assists, 16 digs and seven kills for the Lakers. Kourtney Wolters contributed six kills, six digs and four blocks on the day, while Christina Canepa piled up 18 digs.

Junior right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) had 10 kills and 20 digs to lead the Wingate attack. Seniors Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) and Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) added six kills each, while freshman outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) contributed five kills. Senior setter Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 29 assists and six digs, while freshman libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 12 digs.

A kill from Kaleigh Lound gave the Lakers a 9-5 lead in the opening set. A block from Potter, followed by a kill from sophomore middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) cut the lead to two at 10-8. Kills from Ronda and Lound helped GVSU push the lead back to five at 14-9, but a Bludau kill trimmed the deficit to three at 14-11. A pair of Aiken kills gave the Lakers a 20-14 advantage, while another Aiken kill made it 22-15. A Potter kill and Murach block trimmed the lead to five, but a kill and an ace from Aiken made it 24-17. A Wingate error ended the opening set.

A Kaitlyn Wolters block gave the Lakers an 8-5 lead in set two, but a Potter kill helped trim the lead to one at 8-7. Grand Valley answered with a 5-0 run, taking a 13-7 lead on a Kaitlyn Wolters ace. Kills from Stumpff and Saehler cut the lead to four at 17-13, but four Aiken kills helped the Lakers take a 21-15 advantage. The Bulldogs stormed back, scoring the next six points to tie it at 21. Cooke started the flurry with two kills, while three GVSU errors tied the frame. The Lakers answered by closing the set on a 4-0 run. Aiken started the spurt with a kill, while Kourtney Wolters followed with a kill and a block. A Ronda kill ended the second set.

A Kaitlyn Wolters kill gave Grand Valley a 7-2 lead in set three. A Stumpff kill and Bludau ace helped the 'Dogs cut the lead to two at 10-8. Back-to-back Murach kills got the Bulldogs within one at 11-10, but a Sydney Doby kill and two Wingate errors gave the Lakers a 15-11 lead. Trailing 17-13, the Bulldogs used a 4-0 run to tie the set. Bludau and Potter each contributed a kill and a block in the flurry. GVSU answered with a 4-0 run, taking a 21-17 advantage on a Doby kill. A Murach kill cut the lead to three at 23-20, but a block from Doby made it 24-20. Stumpff fended off the first set point with a kill, but a Ronda block ended the match.

Grand Valley State hit .192 for the match, with 41 kills and 16 errors in 130 attacks. Wingate hit a season-low .073 with 33 kills and 23 errors in 137 attacks. It is the first time in 37 matches this season the Bulldogs have had a lower hitting percentage than their opponent. Ronda and Wolters led GVSU with four blocks each, while Murach and Potter had two each for the Bulldogs.

Wingate Volleyball Notes

With her first kill of the day, junior Shelly Stumpff registered the 1,000th kill of her career. The All-SAC and All-Region selection is the first Bulldog to hit the 1,000 kill barrier before her senior season since two-time All-American Stormi Gale did so in 2009.

Two-time All-American Lexi Potter ended her career with a .350 hitting percentage, the highest hitting percentage in the history of Wingate volleyball.

Three-time All-SAC selection Susie Murach ended her career with 1,068 kills.

2014 AVCA third team All-American Alison Cooke ends her career with 3,161 assists. She also had 837 career digs, 230 kills and 168 blocks.

Senior Stephanie Tassone wraps up her career with 1,236 digs.

Senior Cory McGowan posted 790 kills and 852 digs during her Wingate career.

The senior class compiled a four-year record of 130-10, with a 77-3 mark in SAC play. They won four regular season SAC titles, four SAC Tournament titles and three NCAA Southeast Regional championships.

This marks the eighth straight year Wingate will finish in the top seven nationally in winning percentage. The Bulldogs led the nation in 2007, 2010 and 2011, ranking third in 2008 and 2009, fourth in 2012 and seventh in 2013. Wingate entered the NCAA Tournament ranked second nationally.