Bulldog Volleyball Advances To GLIAC Tournament Championship Match After Semifinal WIn

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad advanced to the 2017 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship match by beating Wayne State in semifinal round action on Saturday (Nov. 18) inside FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

The top-seeded Bulldogs will now take on third-seeded Michigan Tech on Sunday (Nov. 19) in the GLIAC Tournament Championship Match starting at 3 p.m. (ET). The winner receives the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Ferris State dropped a tightly-contested opening set to the Warriors 29-27, but rallied back to avenge a regular-season setback to Wayne State by taking the next three frames by scores of 25-18, 25-9 and 25-22 to claim the win.

With the win, FSU improved to 22-7 on the year while Wayne State closed the season with a 16-13 record.

Senior middle hitter Maria Kronner led the way for the Bulldogs with a match-high 17 kills in the win while senior middle hitter Ayanna Buckley totaled 13 kills and sophomore hitter Allyson Cappel finished with 10 kills overall.

The Bulldogs also got a match-best 27 digs from senior libero Lauren Reminga to go with 17 by Cappel in the victory. Sophomore setter Maeve Grimes finished with 39 assists and Buckley added six block assists along with a solo hit at the net with junior Katke Placek totaling two solo blocks and five assists.

Ferris State finished with 49 kills and a .160 hitting figure on 156 total attempts. Meanwhile, Wayne State recorded only a .076 attack percentage and posted 45 kills on 158 attempts with 33 attack errors.

The Bulldogs also compiled 68 digs, 22 block assists, six solo blocks and five aces in comparison to WSU's 70 digs, 12 block assists and two aces.

Wayne State was led by Hailey Richardson's team-high 16 kills. Julia Malewicz added 10 in the setback for the fourth-seeded Warriors.

The All-GLIAC teams were also announced following the contest and FSU's Allyson Cappel garnered GLIAC Player and Attacker of the Year recognition. She was named to the All-GLIAC First Team along with Buckley while both Kronner and Grimes earned second-team recognition and Reminga was tabbed to the honorable mention squad.

Ferris State and Michigan Tech will square off in a rematch of last week's regular-season finale showdown in Houghton, which was won by FSU as the Bulldogs clinched their fourth consecutive league regular-season title on the final day of action.

With a win on Sunday in the tournament championship match, Ferris State would also become the first team in GLIAC history to win four-straight leauge tournament titles.

Tickets for Sunday's title match will be sold at the door starting one hour prior to match time. The first 150 FSU students will also be admitted free while supplies last courtest of FSU's Administration and Finance Division.