Ferris State Volleyball Splits Two Matches To Wrap Up GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tourney

Big Rapids, Mich. - The 15th-ranked Ferris State University women's volleyball team wrapped up action in the seventh annual Mizuno GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament by splitting two matches on Saturday (Oct. 18) in Aurora, Ill.

The Bulldogs, who suffered a 3-1 loss to Indianapolis in their first match of the large regional event on Friday, battled back to record a 3-0 sweep over Missouri-St. Louis in the first match of the day on Saturday before falling to the GLVC's top seed in Truman State (Mo.) by a 3-2 count in the finale.

FSU took the win over UMSL on Saturday morning by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18 in the dominating victory. Junior Megan Vander Meer paced FSU in the win with a match-high 11 kills.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs also had three players reach double-digits in digs with junior libero Danielle Dowd posting a match-best 21 digs. Both Vander Meer and junior Alexis Huntey added 10 digs each in the triumph.

Ferris State hit .174 for the match against Missouri-St. Louis and also had seven service aces, including two from both Vander Meer and sophomore setter Stephanie Sikorski, who totaled 30 assists as well. FSU limited UMSL to a .040 total attack figure for the contest.

In the nightcap against Truman State, the Bulldogs dropped the first two sets by socres of 25-19 and 25-17 in falling behind early. However, Ferris State rallied to take the third and fourth sets by 25-19 and 25-20 counts to force the deciding fifth frame.

But, Truman State pulled out a 15-11 win in the fifth set to record the win while improving to 19-2 overall this year. FSU fell to 13-5 on the season with the setback.

Vander Meer recorded a match-high 18 kills in the loss with senior Courtney Rehm adding 11 kills and both Huntey along with freshman Ayanna Buckley contributing 10 kills each. 

Overall, Ferris State posted a .165 attack figure and netted 61 total kills to go with 28 errors on 200 total attacks. FSU also compiled 110 digs in the outing, including 23 from Dowd, 21 by Rehm and 20 credited to Huntey. Sikorski added 18 digs and Vander Meer had 12 for FSU.

Truman State was led by both Abby Heise and Kayla Bastian with 17 kills each. Abby Moser had a match-high 30 digs for TSU, which hit .197 and came up with 99 digs, 67 kills and six service aces.

The annual GLIAC/GLVC Crossover is the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament and took place at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora with 32 teams present, including 16 from each conference. Ferris State's Danielle Dowd was among the all-tournament team selections for her performance in the event.

Ferris State returns home to host a pair of league matches this coming week inside FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids. The Bulldogs host Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 24) at noon before entertaining Northern Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 25) at 3 p.m. (ET).