Bulldog Volleyball Suffers Setback In Conference Opener At Northern Michigan

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad got off to a strong start, but could not hold on as the Bulldogs fell to Northern Michigan 3-1 in their Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opener on Friday (Sept. 17) night in Marquette, Mich.

The Bulldogs won the opening set at Vandament Arena by a 25-21 score, but NMU rallied to take the next three frames by scores of 25-21, 26-24 and 25-19 to earn the win in the tightly-contested league opener.

Senior Katie O'Connell and middle hitter Kira Merkle both paced FSU with 13 kills apiece while freshman Keona Salesman notched 10 kills in the decision. 

Defensively, the Bulldogs' Nina Gorgijevska had 12 digs while O'Connell added 10 digs for Ferris State. Setter Kaylee Maat totaled 37 assists.

The Bulldogs hit .277 overall for the night and also had 10 service aces, including four from Gorgijevska.

However, the Wildcats also hit .273 overall and and produced 13 aces overall in the decision.

Northern Michigan was led by Jacqueline Smith with 21 kills and Lizzy Stark added 14 kills for NMU. Lauren Van Remortel posted 50 assists while Caylie Barlage totaled 17 digs and Stark added 14 digs in the winning effort for the Wildcats.

Ferris State will try to even its league record on Sunday (Sept. 19) as FSU takes on Michigan Tech starting at 2 p.m. (ET) in Houghton.