Ferris State Volleyball Rolls To Semifinal Win & Will Face Rival GVSU In GLIAC Tourney Title Match

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally 18th-ranked Ferris State University women's volleyball team advanced to the 2014 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship match by sweeping third-seeded Findlay in the league semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 15) by a 3-0 score in Allendale.

The Bulldogs, who are seeded second in the field, beat the Oilers in convincing fashion 25-16, 25-14, 25-14 to reach the league final for the first time since 2011. FSU will face top-seeded host and archrival Grand Valley State in Sunday's (Nov. 16) tournament title match, which begins at 4 p.m. (ET) inside the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

The winner of Sunday's finale will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament. However, both the Bulldogs and the Lakers, who shared the league's regular-season crown with identical 17-1 conference records, are expected to receive bids to the national tournament when the official pairings are announced late Sunday night regardless of the outcome of the title showdown.

In the win over Findlay, the Bulldogs dominated play as FSU hit .400 or better in all three sets and was at an impressive .402 figure for the night. The Bulldogs tallied 49 kills with only eight errors on 102 total attacks.

Three FSU players reached double-figures in kills with junior outside hiter Megan Vander Meer leading the attack with a match-high 13 kills. Senior Courtney Rehm totaled 12 kills and junior middle hitter Caroline Heitzman finished with 10 for FSU.

Rehm posted a double-double effort as she also paced FSU with 14 digs while junior libero Danielle Dowd added 12. Vander Meer posted nine digs as did junior Alexis Huntey with sophomore setter Stephanie Sikorski contributing seven as the Bulldogs held a 58-41 margin in total digs for the outing.

Sikorski recorded 43 assists for FSU with both Huntey and freshman middle hitter Ayanna Buckley netting three blocks each at the net. Ferris State had five solo blocks and eight assisted efforts with FSU also netting two service aces to go with six errors on the serve.

For Findlay, both Nickyla Garverick and Erika Roach led the way with six kills apiece. Becca Sheomaker had a team-high 13 digs while Amanda Calhoun added 11 to go with her 21 assists.

FSU held the Oilers to a .103 attack figure with 27 kills and 16 errors on 107 total attempts. Findlay had no aces and only a single solo block with two assists in addition to six service mistakes in the contest.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 22-5 overall this season and have now won nine-straight matches to date. Findlay dropped to 23-7 with the setback and will also await the official announcement of the NCAA selections.

Following Sunday's league title tilt between Ferris State and Grand Valley State, the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional will be held Nov. 20-22 at the site of the highest seed. The official selection announcement will take place on Sunday night at 10 p.m. (ET) at www.ncaa.com.