FSU

Bulldog Volleyball To Face Rockhurst In First-Round Of NCAA Tournament On Dec. 5

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad will open its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on Thursday, Dec. 5, as the Bulldogs take on Rockhurst (Mo.) in the opening round of the big dance in Romeoville, Ill.

The Bulldogs will be the number four seed for the Midwest Regional Tournament that runs Thursday thru Saturday, Dec. 5-7, on the campus of top-seeded Lewis University at Neil Carey Arena. Match time is set for 5 p.m. (CT) or 6 p.m. (ET) for the quarterfinal-round contest.

Tickets for the regional tournament will be sold on-site or are also available online and are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and $5 for children per day. All seats are general admission.

Each game of the tournament will be broadcast live on the internet through www.glvcsn.com/lewis.

Along with the FSU-Rockhurst matchup, the three other quarterfinal-round matches include third-seeded Missouri-St. Louis facing sixth-seeded Michigan Tech at 1 p.m. (ET) with number two seed Hillsdale taking on seventh-seeded Indianapolis at 3:30 p.m. (ET). The final match of the day will pit top-seeded Lewis (Ill.) against eighth-seeded Saginaw Valley State at 8:30 p.m. (ET).

If the Bulldogs get past seventh-seeded Rockhurst in the first round, they would then face the winner of the Lewis/SVSU matchup in the second regional semifinal on Friday (Dec. 6) evening starting at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The championship match is set for Saturday (Dec. 7) at 8 p.m. (ET).

Ferris State will be making its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and has advanced to at least the regional semifinals each of the last eight years. FSU's upcoming regional appearance will represent the program's 24th all-time as the Bulldogs have compiled a 19-24 overall record in NCAA Tournament competition.

Ferris State, which is coached by 24th-year head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, is presently 25-5 overall this campaign and has won its last eight outings to date.

The Bulldogs finished the regular-season as GLIAC Champions for the sixth-straight year with a 14-2 league mark. It was the ninth-straight year in which FSU finished either first or second in the conference.

Along with winning this year's GLIAC regular-season crown, Ferris State also captured the 2019 GLIAC Tournament Championship for the sixth consecutive year as FSU topped Michigan Tech to earn the program's seventh tourney title in school history while becoming the first squad in league history to capture six-straight crowns.

The Division II Women's Volleyball Committee selected a total of 64 teams to participate in the 2019 Division II Women's Volleyball Championship. Eight teams were selected from each of the following eight regions: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

The eight, eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the finals, Dec. 12-14, in Denver, Colo. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination; best three-of-five-set matches.

FSU has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen twice in the past four years.