#13 Ferris State Beats #4 Concordia-St. Paul To Win Colorado Premier Challenge!

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad made an early season statement as the Bulldogs beat nationally 4th-ranked and perennial Division II power Concordia-St. Paul to claim the 2015 Colorado Premier Challenge Championship on Saturday (Sept. 12) night in Denver, Colo.

The Bulldogs won one of the nation's most prestigious tournaments by taking out two of the country's top four teams in the final day of action. FSU beat second-ranked and defending national runner-up Southwest Minnesota State in early afternoon action before topping Concordia-St. Paul, which had beat number one ranked and reigning national champion Tampa in the semifinals.

Saturday's title match was carried live across the country by ESPN3 and the Bulldogs took the title in dramatic fashion.

Ferris State dropped the opening set 25-21, but came back to win the next two frames by scores of 29-27 and 25-23 in the back and forth match. Concordia-St. Paul won the fourth 25-22 to force the deciding set, but FSU sealed the upset with a 15-11 win.

By virtue of its 4-0 mark in the two-day event, the 13th-ranked Bulldogs remained unbeaten at 8-0 overall this season. Concordia-St. Paul dropped to 5-2 overall with the setback.

Senior outside hitter Megan Vander Meer tallied 18 kills in the title match to lead the Bulldogs and added 21 digs. Meanwhile, sophomore middle Ayanna Buckley contributed 17 kills with senior middle hitter Caroline Heitzman recording 15 kills.

FSU also received 16 digs each from senior Alexis Huntey and freshman Katie Placek with senior libero Danielle Dowd notching a team-best 22 digs. Junior setter Stephanie Sikorski contributed 53 assists.

Ferris State posted a .212 attack figure on the strength of 69 kills. FSU also had 95 digs and 64 assists to go with three aces and 12 total blocks. Heitzman had four solo blocks and three assisted efforts.

On the opposite side, Concordia-St. Paul was led by Anna Schlaak, who had a match-high 20 kills. Riley Hanson added 18 kills with both Heather Schiller and Emily McDonough recording 11 each. Kasey Williams posted 26 digs and Taylor Dordan had 20 in the setback.

CSP hit .199 for the match on 69 kills with 29 errors. They also had 104 digs, 68 assists and 11 blocks with five aces and nine service errors.

The Bulldogs will return home to host Saginaw Valley State in their GLIAC opener on Friday, Sept. 18, starting at 7 p.m. (ET) inside the Ewigleben Sports Arena.

A total of 12 schools took in the annual Colorado Premier Challenge. The 2015 tournament field featured six teams that finished the 2014 season in the top 25, and 10 of the 12 teams were ranked at some point last season.

The past seven national champions have all competed in the Premier, including last year's winners from the University of Tampa. The Spartans returned to this year's tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Last year's national runner-up Southwest Minnesota State also competed for the third consecutive year. Concordia-St. Paul, which had its streak of seven consecutive national championships snapped last year, had won the Premier four of the past seven years prior to Ferris State's victory.