Ferris State Falls In Three To Grand Valley State
For the sixth time in the last seven meetings, Grand Valley State came away victorious over the Ferris State University women's volleyball team as the Bulldogs were handed a 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-18, 25-23) by the Lakers this Friday (Oct. 1) before a packed FSU Ewigleben Sports Arena crowd in Big Rapids, Mich.
The Bullldogs, who drop to 7-6 overall and are 4-5 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division as a result of the setback, posted a .113 hitting percentage while the Lakers produced a .211 attack percentage.
Grand Valley State led from start to finish in the opening set as the Lakers would finish by connecting on .186 of their attack attempts and the Bulldogs ended the set hitting at a .174 clip.
The Lakers, who improved their overall record to 8-5 and 7-2 in the GLIAC's North Division, would proceed to win the second set by a seven-point margin (25-18). Ferris State held an 11-9 edge near the midway point only to have its West Michigan rival rally with a 6-4 scoring spurt to take a 15-13 lead. The visitors were able to maintain their advantage the rest of the way compiling a 19-14 lead in the late stages and concluding the set with a .343 hitting percentage to the Bulldogs' .061.
In the third set, Grand Valley State jumped out to a 9-5 lead before Ferris State went on a 5-2 run to get within 11-10. The Lakers' were able to maintain their slim lead although the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to one (17-16) following a kill by sophomore outside hitter Aly Brecht (Alma). From there Grand Valley State proceeded to outscore the hosts, 6-1, to go up 23-17. However, FSU fought back and closed to within a point at 23-22 on a ball-handling error. The two teams exchanged a point as senior middle hitter Arielle Goodson (Grand Rapids/Central) hammered one down to make it a 24-23 set score. Unfortunately, the Lakers tallied the winning point on the ensuing serve as Krysta Kornack, who had nine 10 kills for GVSU in the contest, netted a kill to end the set and match.
For Ferris State, Arielle Goodson claimed match-high honors with 16 kills on 31 attempts for a .419 attack percentage while Aly Brecht and sophomore middle hitter Anne Sutton (Grand Rapids/Northview) added seven kills apiece. A match-leading 29 assists were turned in by sophomore setter Samantha Fordyce (DeWitt), who also chipped in with 13 digs. Sutton also was successful on .333 of her hitting opportunities.
Junior libero Lisa Tobiczyk's (Marysville) 16 digs paced the Bulldogs, who also received 12 digs from junior outside hitter Ashley Huntey (Stanwood/Morley-Stanwood).
Grand Valley State's Rebeccah Rapin was the lone Laker in double-figure kills with 10 while Leslie Curtis was the team's leader by virtue of her 17-digs output.
The Bulldogs visit Saginaw Valley State this Sunday (Oct. 3) in a conference matchup at SVSU's Cardinal Gymnasium in University Center, Mich. Opening serve is 2 p.m. (EDT).
