Samatha Fordyce sets up one of her match-high 27 assists to Kristy Gilchrist in Saturday's victory.

Posted: Sep 26, 2009

Volleyball Sweeps Lake Superior State At Home

The Ferris State University women's volleyball team was able to get back on the winning track as the Bulldogs registered a 3-0 victory (25-10, 25-20, 25-16) against Lake Superior State this Saturday (Sept. 26) afternoon in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest at FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

The win improves Ferris State to 12-5 overall on the season and 5-2 in the conference. Lake Superior State dropped to 1-14 overall and 1-6 in league matches with the loss. The Bulldogs also earned their 42nd victory in the last 43 meetings with LSSU and presently own a 62-17 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.

Leading the Ferris State offense was redshirt freshman middle hitter Anne Sutton (Grand Rapids/Northview), who tallied a match-leading and season-best 13 kills while hitting for a match-high .571 percentage. Senior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist (Macomb/Anchor Bay) and redshirt frosh outside hitter Aly Brecht (Alma), who hit at a .500 clip, each recorded six kills as FSU posted a .360 attack percentage for the match.

Samantha Fordyce (DeWitt), a reshirt freshman setter, dished out a match-best 27 assists while sophomore libero Lisa Tobiczyk (Marysville) led the Bulldogs with 12 digs, second only to Lake Superior State's Jessica Ewer's 14 digs total.

Ferris State jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the opening set before the Bulldogs went on a 12-5 run to lead by 14 points (20-6) at one point. FSU would end the first set hitting .400 with 17 kills in 35 attempts while the Lakers were held to a -.077 with four kills in 26 opportunities.

The second set was much closer as Ferris State broke a 10-all tie with four consecutive points and never trailed the remainder of the set. Lake Superior State managed to get within 20-18, but three kills by sophomore outside hitter Karen Thompson (Holt) highlighted the Bulldogs' final five set points. FSU compiled a .345 hitting success rate in the second set while LSSU registered a .297 attack percentage.

Ferris State came out of the break with a 13-5 scoring spurt to begin the third set and was never threatened as the Bulldogs turned in a .320 hit percentage with 11 kills in 25 attempts. Lake Superior State narrowed the gap to five points (18-13), but the Lakers were unable to get any closer in the final set. Senior outside hitter Amanda Kettlewell's (Marysville) kill proceeded by a LSSU attack error represented the match's final points.

The Bulldogs are on the road next weekend, Oct. 2-3, for a pair of conference contests versus Findlay and Hillsdale, respectively. FSU takes on Findlay next Friday (Oct. 2) at 7 p.m. (EDT) before facing Hillsdale on Saturday (Oct. 3) in a 2 p.m. (EDT) encounter.