Ferris State Volleyball Suffers Setback In First Day Action At GLIAC/GLVC Crossover

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Indianapolis Greyhounds earned a season split against nationally 15th-ranked Ferris State in non-conference volleyball action as UIndy posted a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs on the first day of the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Ill.

The Greyhounds, who fell to FSU at the University of Tampa Invitational to open the season in early September, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by winning the opening two sets 25-22 and 25-19, respectively. FSU came back to post a 25-22 win in the third frame before Indianapolis closed out the match by taking the fourth set 25-23.

UIndy's Hailey Brown had a big day at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora with a match-high 22 kills in the win over the Bulldogs. She was the lone Indianapolis player to reach double-digits in kills although Arielle Knafel added nine for UIndy, which played only seven players in the contest.

Ferris State was paced by junior outside hitter Megan Vander Meer with 16 kills. Senior hitter Courtney Rehm added 13 kills and junior Alexis Huntey netted nine kills to help the FSU cause.

Both teams hit under .200 for the match with Indianapolis posting a .182 figure compared to FSU's .122 showing on the day. UIndy, though, hit .237 or better in the three sets the Greyhounds won while FSU didn't post an attack percentage over .156 in any of the four frames.

Ferris State compiled 51 kills and 29 errors on 181 total attacks while also netting 77 digs, five aces and eight service errors. Meanwhile, the Greyhounds finished with 52 kills and 23 errors on 159 attacks. They also recorded 92 digs, seven aces and only three service mistakes.

Libero Danielle Dowd totaled 21 digs for the Bulldogs with Huntey adding 15 and sophomore setter Stephanie Sikorski netting 12 to go with her 42 assists. Rehm also had 11 digs for Ferris State.

The Greyhounds received a match-best 25 digs from Kimberly Trojan along with 22 by Knafel, 21 from Meghan Binkerd and 12 from Lynsey Hazelwood. Binkerd had 35 assists for UIndy.

With the win, Indianapolis improved to 11-6 on the year while the Bulldogs fell to 12-4 overall.

FSU wraps up action in the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover, which is the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament featuring 32 teams and matches on eight courts, with a pair of outings on Saturday. Ferris State first faces Missouri-St. Louis at 11 a.m. (ET) before battling Truman State (Mo.) starting at 5 p.m. (ET).