Ferris State Women's Volleyball Receives NCAA Tournament Bid

Click Here For 2009 NCAA-II Women's Volleyball Tournament Release (PDF)
 

The 2009 Ferris State University women's volleyball team will continue its post-season action as the Bulldogs have earned a berth in this weekend's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Women's Volleyball Tournament as announced late Sunday (Nov. 15) evening by the national women's volleyball committee.

Ferris State, which is seeded seventh, will go up against the tourney's number-two seed Lewis (Ill.) Flyers this Thursday (Nov. 19) in quarterfinal-round action at the University of Indianapolis' Ruth Lilly Fitness Center in Indianapolis, Ind. Quarterfinal-round match times for the regional will be announced this Monday (Nov. 16). 

Ferris State will be making its first NCAA-II Regional appearance since 2006 (Nov. 9) when the Bulldogs dropped a 3-0 decision (26-30, 29-31, 21-30) to Ashland in quarterfinal-round play at Hillsdale's Jesse Philips Arena in Hillsdale, Mich.  FSU's upcoming regional appearance will represent the program's 15th all-time as the Bulldogs have compiled a 7-15 overall record in NCAA Tournament competition. 

Ferris State and Lewis met earlier this season (Oct. 17) at the 2009 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC/Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Asics Crossover Tournament in Lansing, Mich., with the Flyers prevailing 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 31-29) over the Bulldogs.

Lewis, which is presently ranked 11th nationally in the latest (Nov. 9) American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 Poll, fell 3-1 to Indianapolis in the championship match of the GLVC Tournament last night (Nov. 15) at Romeoville, Ill.

Ferris State, which is coached by 14th-year head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, are presently 19-11 overall this season.  The 2009 season's performance represents FSU's 12th consecutive winning campaign to date.  

The winners of each of the 2009 eight regionals will advance to the national finals (Dec. 3-5) which will be conducted on the campus of a participating institution.

Here are the quarterfinal-round pairing for the 2009 NCAA-II Midwest Regional Tournament:

#1 Indianapolis (32-1) vs. #8 Michigan Tech (14-14)

#2 Lewis (27-4) vs. #7 Ferris State (19-11)

#3 Saginaw Valley State (21-9) vs. #6 Grand Valley State (16-12)

#4 Northern Michigan (18-11) vs. #5 Hillsdale (23-7)