Five Ferris State Volleyball Standouts Earn All-GLIAC Laurels; FSU Leads League With Three First-Teamers
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Big Rapids, Mich. - A total of five Ferris State University women's volleyball players were honored on Saturday (Nov. 15) evening as All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) selections for the 2014 season as the annual conference awards were presented in conjunction with the league tournament at Allendale.
Ferris State paced the GLIAC with a league-high three All-GLIAC First Team selections this fall, including senior hitter Courtney Rehm (Portage/Central) along with junior outside hitters Megan Vander Meer (Grand Rapids) and Alexis Huntey (Stanwood/Morley Stanwood).
In addition, the Bulldogs had a second-team choice in sophomore setter Stephanie Sikorski (Rochester Hills/Rochester) and an honorable mention recipient in junior middle hitter Caroline Heitzman (Newaygo).
Together, the five honorees helped the Bulldogs claim the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship and led FSU past third-seeded Findlay in Saturday night's tournament semifinals to reach the league title match. The awards were presented between evening semifinals matches at the 2014 GLIAC Tournament being hosted at the Grand Valley State Fieldhouse Arena.
Ferris State was the lone school in the GLIAC to have three first-team all-conference picks. Rival Grand Valley State along with Findlay and Saginaw Valley State each had two honorees on the 12-member first team while Ashland, Northern Michigan and Hillsdale each had one recipient.
Along with the all-conference teams, the annual league individual award winners were also recognized. The University of Findlay sophomore outside hitter Hannah Tong was named the 2014 GLIAC "Attacker of the Year," in voting conducted by the league's head coaches. Tong's teammate, freshman middle blocker Nickyla Garverick was tabbed both "Freshman of the Year" and "Blocker of the Year" while Grand Valley State senior setter Kaitlyn Wolters earned "Player of the Year" and "Setter of the Year" accolades. Finally, GVSU senior libero Christina Canepa was voted "Libero of the Year" and Findlay head coach Wick Colchagoff took home "Coach of the Year" honors.
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.
With the win over Findlay on Saturday night, the second-seeded Bulldogs improved to 22-5 overall this season and have now won nine-straight matches to date heading into the league tourney title match versus Grand Valley State.
The winner of Sunday's GLIAC Tournament 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.