Ferris State Volleyball Downs Tiffin 3-1 To Continue On The Winning Path

The Ferris State University women's volleyball team picked up its 14th victory of the 2009 season this Friday (Oct. 9) evening as the Bulldogs would claim a 3-1 triumph over Tiffin in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest played at FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

With the four-set decision (25-15, 25-19, 22-25, 25-17), the Bulldogs improve to 14-6 overall while raising their conference mark to 7-3 in the GLIAC's North Division.  Tiffin drops to 2-18 overall with the loss and remains winless in league play at 0-10.

The Bulldogs donned pink uniforms as part of the nationwide DiG PiNK initiative to help raise both awareness and funding for Breast Cancer research with October being designated as national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A balanced offensive attack continues to be a key in Ferris State's recent success as the Bulldogs have three players in double figures for kills.  Senior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist (Macomb/Anchor Bay) and junior middle hitter Arielle Goodson (Grand Rapids/Central) led the way with a match-leading 12 kills apiece while sophomore outside hitter Ashley Huntey (Stanwood/Morley-Stanwood) registered her fifth double-double of this season with 11 kills and digs apiece.

Arielle Goodson turned in a .478 hitting percentage to lead FSU as she produced 12 kills with one error in 23 attempts.  Freshman redshirt setter Samantha Forydce (DeWitt) recorded a match-best 42 assists and served up four aces in helping the Bulldog offense to a .243 attack percentage.  Defensively, sophomore libero Lisa Tobiczyk's (Maryville) 14 digs represented a match high.   

Ferris State prevailed in the opening set as Arielle Goodson hammered five kills as the Bulldogs hit .364 and won 25-15.  The second set featured 13 ties and eight lead changes before FSU would pull out a 25-19 win on three straight Bulldog kills.  Ferris managed to post a .316 hitting percentage and held the Dragons to .091 efficiency in their offensive chances.

Tiffin was able to extend the match to a fourth set as the Dragons claimed a 25-22 decision in the third set.  The hosts led 14-13 at one juncture before Tiffin went on a 10-4 scoring spurt to take a 23-17 lead and held on as the Bulldogs threatened late, getting within two points (24-22) on a Ashley Huntey kill.  However, Ferris State's comeback was short-lived as the Dragons picked up the winning point on a Bulldog attack error.  Tiffin generated a .176 hitting percentage for the third set compared to Ferris' .140 attack percentage.

The fourth set saw Ferris State jump out to the lead and maintain the upper hand from start to finish despite having a lower hitting percentage than its opponent.  Tiffin concluded the set with a .233 attack percentage while the Bulldogs hit for .212.  FSU chalked up 12 kills in the set and also totaled four service aces.

The Bulldogs will entertain the Ashland Eagles this Saturday (Oct. 10) at 12 p.m. (EDT) in a GLIAC match at the Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids.