Bulldog Volleyball Suffers Five-Set Setback At Ashland In Saturday Evening Action

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally 17th-ranked Ferris State University women's volleyball squad got off to a fast start, but fell to the Ashland Eagles 3-2 on Saturday (Oct. 26) night in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action in Ashland, Ohio.

The Bulldogs won the opening two sets of the match by idential 25-18 scores before the Eagles rallied back to claim the final three frames of the league encounter. Ashland won the third 25-16 and then captured a 26-24 win in the fourth to force the deciding frame where they held off FSU 15-11 to claim the victory.

With the setback, the Bulldogs fell to 17-5 overall this season and 9-2 in the GLIAC.

Junior Katie O'Connell totaled 20 kills in leading FSU while adding 11 digs. The Bulldogs also got 13 kills from senior Allyson Cappel in addition to her 18 total digs.

FSU's Maeve Grimes dished out 50 assists and produced 16 digs with libero Nina Gorgijevska notching a season-high 38 digs for the Bulldog. Senior

Courtney Brewer added 15 digs to go with 16 kills in the contest while freshman middle hitter Kira Merkle posted 10 kills.

Ferris State was held to a .144 attack figure and the Bulldogs compiled 62 kills with 99 digs, 12 block assists, four solo blocks and five aces.

Meanwhile, the Eagles finished with 61 kills along with 104 digs, four block assists, two solo blocks and a single ace.

Ashland was led by Brooke Peiffer and Erin Krupar, who both totaled 16 kills. McKinley Smith had 24 digs and Abbey Fletcher added 21 digs for AU.

The Bulldogs will be back at home next weekend as they host Saginaw Valley State on Friday (Nov. 1) at 7 p.m. (ET) before taking on Lake Superior State on Saturday (Nov. 2) starting at 3 p.m.