Win Streak Ends For Bulldog Volleyball In 3-2 Home Loss To Grand Valley State

The Ferris State University women's volleyball team came into this Tuesday's (Sept. 15) home contest against archrival Grand Valley State looking for a measure of revenge, but the Lakers thwarted the Bulldogs' attempt by posting a 3-2 victory (26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play at FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

In the process, Grand Valley State snapped Ferris State's four-matching winning streak as the Bulldogs are now 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the loss.

A season ago (Oct. 24), Grand Valley State managed to rally from a 2-1 deficit to notch a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Ferris State on the Bulldogs' home floor. 

Senior outside hitter Katie Edwards (Cedar Springs) led the way with a match-high 19 kills for the Bulldogs, leading four players in double-digit kills.  Junior middle hitter Arielle Goodson (Grand Rapids/Central) totaled 16 kills, senior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist (Macomb/Anchor Bay) had 12, and senior middle hitter Sarah Lark (Alma) recorded 11 kills.

Redshirt freshman setter Samantha Fordyce (DeWitt) dished out a season-high 63 assists to go with nine digs.  Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Huntey (Stanwood/Morley-Stanwood) recorded a match-high 23 digs while sophomore libero Lisa Tobiczyk (Marysville) compiled 20 digs and junior libero Dana Ruttle (Reed City) chipped in with 12 dug balls.  Together, the trio combined for over 68 percent of the squad's 80 digs on the evening.

Ferris State finished the match hitting .169 with 70 kills while Grand Valley State posted a .168 attack percentage.  Whitney Tremain and Rebeccah Rapin led the Lakers' offense with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. 

The opening set featured 13 ties and seven lead changes with the Lakers snapping a 24-all tie on a Tremain kill proceeded by a FSU attack error to take a 1-0 lead.

Ferris State came on in the second set and hit at a .343 clip with 16 kills in 35 attempts.  The set was knotted up at 20-apiece when Kristy Gilchrist's kill gave the Bulldogs the lead for good to even up the match.

Grand Valley State would regain the upper hand in set three despite hitting .027, but equally important was the Lakers being able to force Ferris State into -.060 hitting.  GVSU built up its lead to four points (24-20) in the late going after the set was tied at 19-all.

The fourth set saw Ferris State regain the momentum as the Bulldogs forced the deciding fifth set.  The hosts, who posted a .238 attack percentage to the Lakers' .125 hitting, claimed the decision on back-to-back kills by Ashley Huntey.

In the fifth set, Grand Valley State tallied the first four points and never trailed the rest of the way despite Ferris State slicing the deficit to a point on eight occasions.  The Bulldogs ended the set by hitting .107 compared to the Lakers' .158 clip.

Ferris State returns to action this weekend (Sept. 18-19) as the Bulldogs embark on their annual trek to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a pair of GLIAC outings against Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.  The Bulldogs take on the Michigan Tech this Friday (Sept. 18) at MTU's SDC Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich., with a 7 p.m. (EDT) start time scheduled.  Following that match, Ferris State visits Northern Michigan this Saturday (Sept. 19) at NMU's Vandament Arena in Marquette, Mich.  First serve is set for 3 p.m. (EDT).