League-Leading Four Ferris State Student-Athletes Chosen As GLIAC Commissioner's Award Recipients
Big Rapids, Mich. - Four Ferris State University student-athletes have been chosen as Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Commissioner's Award recipients for the fall 2021 campaign.
The Bulldogs' four honorees were the most of any GLIAC member school for the recently-completed fall season.
Ferris State's recipients included a trio of female student-athletes in volleyball's Katie O'Connell (Evergreen Park, Ill.) along with the women's soccer duo of Bri Rogers (Livonia) and Grace VerHage (Otsego). Additionally, Bulldog Football's Olalere Oladipo (Huntley, Ill.) also earned the prestigious distinction.
The awards are presented after the fall, winter and spring athletic seasons to six female and male student-athletes that excel both in the classroom and in competition. All must have recorded cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or above for the fall term.
Katie O'Connell:
O'Connell earned AVCA All-America First Team accolades in 2021, becoming an All-America choice for the third time in her collegiate career. O'Connell led FSU to an impressive 27-5 overall record and a spot in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship match in her final campaign. The Bulldogs also won the GLIAC Tournament in a memorable postseason run that included FSU serving as the top seed and host for the Midwest Regional. O'Connell concluded her career as one of the top players in school history and paced FSU with 400 kills and 404 digs in 33 matches this fall, averaging 3.57 kills and 3.61 digs per set with 32 service aces and 66 total blocks. She also garnered both All-GLIAC First Team kudos and AVCA All-Midwest Region Team honors.
Bri Rogers:
Rogers became only the second All-America choice in Bulldog Soccer history this past fall after leading FSU to the school's first GLIAC Tournament Championship and second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. An All-GLIAC First Team choice and all-region honoree, Rogers concluded the fall 2021 campaign with 10 goals and two assists for 22 points in 22 outings, ranking among the squad's scoring leaders from the defensive side. She also had a pair of game-winning goals and totaled 51 shots while leading FSU to a 15-3-4 overall record. The Bulldogs stopped rival Grand Valley State's 14-year conference tournament title streak with Rogers leading the way as a team captain.
Grace VerHage:
VerHage played a lead role for the Bulldogs as they won the GLIAC Tournament for the first time in school history this past fall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time ever. VerHage tallied a team-high 35 points on a squad-best 13 goals and nine assists in 22 contests for the Bulldogs. She also had a team-leading 96 shots with 51 on goal and recorded three game-winners for FSU. VerHage was both an All-GLIAC honoree and all-region pick while earned COSIDA Academic All-America Second Team accolades for FSU, which stopped rival Grand Valley State's 14-year conference tournament title streak this past season en route to a 15-3-4 overall record.
Olalere Oladipo:
Oladipo helped lead the Bulldogs to the program's first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship this past fall, finishing with an unblemished 14-0 overall record under head coach Tony Annese. Oladipo played a lead role as one of FSU's starting defensive ends and finished the year with 33 total tackles to go with 3.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 14 games. The first-year Bulldog starter earned GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team recognition and was an All-GLIAC honoree on the field, helping FSU win the conference championship in unbeaten fashion for the third consecutive time. The Bulldogs also extended their regular-season winning streak to 38 consecutive games, which includes 31-straight conference victories.
Visit this link below for the complete GLIAC release:
https://gliac.org/general_news/Awards/Commish_-_Fall_2021/Fall_21_Commissioners_Awards