Top-Ranked Ferris State Opens Upper Peninsula Trip By Sweeping Michigan Tech
Big Rapids, Mich. - Nationally top-ranked Ferris State University opened a two-match Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) volleyball trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula with an impressive 3-0 sweep over host Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 30) evening in Houghton.
The nation's top team, Ferris State, improved to 23-1 overall and stayed unbeaten in the GLIAC at 12-0 on the year by topping the Huskies 25-19, 25-16 and 25-17 in the shutout victory. MTU entered the match with 17 wins on the season and fell to 17-7 overall along with 8-4 in league play.
Ferris State compiled a .353 attack percentage in winning its 11th match in a row this season. The Bulldogs had 42 kills with only six errors in 102 total attacks on the night.
Senior hitters Alexis Huntey and Caroline Heitzman both tallied a team-best 11 kills in the FSU effort with the Bulldogs also receiving nine kills from sophomore middle hitter Ayanna Buckley.
On the defensive front, senior outside hitter Megan Vander Meer notched 16 digs for the Bulldogs with freshman Katie Placek adding 15 digs. Senior libero Danielle Dowd and junior setter Stephanie Sikorski both compiled eight digs each for FSU. Sikorski posted 31 assists.
Overall, the Bulldogs finished with 55 digs, 10 block assists, three solo blocks, three service aces and only two service miscues in the decisive win.
FSU limited the Huskies to a .138 attack figure in the match played inside MTU's Student Development Complex gymnasium. The Huskies garnered 39 kills and had 21 errors on 130 total attempts. They also netted 49 digs, four block assists and two aces to go with six service mistakes and zero solo blocks.
Michigan Tech was led by Aubrey Ficek, who finished with 11 kills overall. Jacqueline Aird added 13 digs and Rachel Pohlod had 33 assists.
Ferris State wraps up the weekend trip by visiting Northern Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 31) for a Halloween clash starting at 4 p.m. (ET) in Marquette. FSU then returns to West Michigan to square off against archrival Grand Valley State on Tuesday (Nov. 3) starting at 7 p.m. (ET) in Allendale.