Ferris State Volleyball Pulls Out Key Regional & League Road Victory In Five Sets

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball team won a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) road match on Friday (Nov. 15) night as FSU topped Hillsdale 3-2 in league play at Jesse Philips Arena in Hillsdale, Mich.

The win was important for the Bulldogs, who entered the contest ranked second in the region and midst a four-way tie for second place in the GLIAC standings. Hillsdale was ranked ninth this past week in the regional rankings.

Ferris State dropped the first set 25-18 before coming back to win the next two sets by scores of 25-23 and 26-24, respectively. However, the Chargers won the fourth frame 25-20 to force the deciding fifth set, which was won by the Bulldogs by a 16-14 count.

The nationally 24th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 21-7 overall and 14-3 in the GLIAC standings with the win while Hillsdale fell to 15-13 overall and 10-7 in league play.

Following Friday night's action, Ferris State is now involved in a three-way tie for second place in the GLIAC heading into FSU's final regular-season match at Northwood on Saturday (Nov. 16). Grand Valley State leads the race with a 16-1 league record with FSU, Ashland and Northern Michigan all tied at 14-3 in GLIAC play. Northwood is only a spot back at 13-4 with the top four teams at the end of Saturday's action hosting GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal-round home matchups next Wednesday (Nov. 20).

Ferris State was led by junior Courtney Rehm, who had 15 kills and 12 digs in a double-double showing. Senior middle hitter Angi Kent added 14 kills with sophomore Alexis Huntey contributing 12 kills in the victory.  

In addition to Rehm's 12 digs, FSU also received a team-high 28 digs from senior libero Brandie Merren. Hutney chipped in with 21 digs and sophomore Megan Vander Meer had 20 digs to go with six kills of her own. Freshman setter Stephanie Sikorski totaled 51 assists adn the Bulldogs also received three aces from Huntey along with four blocks each from Vander Meer and Caroline Heitzman.

Ferris State hit .174 for the match, which included a .244 showing in the fourth set followed by a .240 figure in the deciding frame. Meanwhile, Hillsdale finished with a .167 attack percentage and hit at a .200 clip in the final fifth set.

FSU compiled 60 kills, 91 digs, six aces and 13 blocks to go with seven service errors in comparison to Hillsdale's 65 kills, 94 digs, 11 blocks, seven aces and four service errors.

Emily Wolfert paced the Chargers with 18 kills. She was followed by Kat Vael with 16 and Jenalle Beaman with 10 in the match. Meanwhile, Caitlin Kopmeyer tallied a match-high 31 digs to go with 17 by Wolfert along with 11 from Marissa Owen and 10 by Jordan Denmark.

On the Hillsdale side, both Haylee Booms and Vael notched six block assists each. Wolfert contributed three aces in leading the Chargers from the service line.

Ferris State and Northwood will square off in the regular-season finale on Saturday (Nov. 16) starting at 3 p.m. (ET) in Midland. NU enters the match ranked third in the current NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings right behind the Bulldogs.