Ferris State Volleyball & Football Teams To Be Honored Thursday For Championship Success

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University Athletics will honor and recognize a pair of championship teams for their success in the fall on Thursday (Feb. 16) night during FSU's league home basketball doubleheader against Northern Michigan at Jim Wink Arena.

During halftime of the men's basketball contest, the Bulldogs' league title-winning volleyball squad and national semifinalist football team will be introduced in front of the home crowd. 

Both teams had memorable fall seasons yet again and won championships with the volleyball team garnering a third-straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) crown and football earning the NCAA Super Region Four Championship.

Ferris State head coaches Tony Annese and Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, who both also claimed Regional Coach of the Year recognition this past fall, will join their student-athletes and coaching staff members for the presentation.

The GLIAC doubleheader gets underway at Wink Arena starting with the women's game at 6 p.m. (ET). The men's contest is slated for an 8 p.m. (ET) tipoff as FSU hosts the Wildcats for the second matchup this season on the hardwood.

This past fall, the Bulldog volleyball squad, which made the school's sixth-straight and 21st overall NCAA Tournament appearance, finished the 2016 campaign with a 30-6 overall record. FSU won its third-straight GLIAC Regular-Season Championship and claimed the school's third consecutive GLIAC Tournament title while earning the right to host the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament where FSU finished as the regional runner-up.

This year marked the 15th time in 21 seasons under Brandel-Wilhelm in which FSU Volleyball has claimed at least 20 victories in a campaign. The Bulldogs also made their 19th consecutive GLIAC Tournament appearance during the 2016 campaign. Brandel-Wilhelm earned AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog football squad finished 2016 with a 12-3 overall record while advancing to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals for only the second time in school history. In 2016, the Bulldogs also posted a school-record tying 12 victories.

This past fall, Ferris State received the program's third-straight NCAA Football Playoff berth and captured the Super Region Four Championship by beating archrival Grand Valley State during a memorable postseason run. The 15-week campaign, which included three postseason playoff wins, was the school's longest in 108 years of Bulldog Football.

Annese was also the Football Gazette Super Region Four Coach of the Year this past fall.