Ferris Tops Lewis In GLVC/GLIAC Crossover

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally 11th-ranked Ferris State University women's volleyball squad opened play in the 2011 Mizuno Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC)/Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Crossover Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Lewis (Ill.) on Friday (Oct. 14) afternoon in Aurora, Ill.

The Flyers took the first set by a 25-23 score at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, but the Bulldogs rallied back and won the next three by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-21 to improve to 16-1 overall this campaign.

The win was FSU's 11th consecutive victory and the first 10 matches of the stretch had all came by identical 3-0 scores.  The Bulldogs were the top-seeded GLIAC team entering the tournament while the Flyers were seeded sixth among the GLVC schools and fell to 13-5 overall this campaign.

Senior outside hitter Ashley Huntey (Stanwood/Morley-Stanwood) paced the Bulldog attack as she netted a match-high 19 kills and had 16 digs in the victory.  Junior middle hitter Anne Sutton (Grand Rapids/Northview) also reached double-figures in kills with 18 on the day.  Additionally, FSU received 10 kills from freshman middle hitter Courtney Rehm (Portage/Central).

Ferris State also received 51 assists from junior setter Samantha Fordyce (DeWitt) while senior libero Lisa Tobiczyk (Marysville) compiled a match-high tying 19 digs.  Sophomore defensive specialist Brandie Merren (Hopkins) added 16 digs for FSU.

Overall, FSU held a 60-55 edge in total kills and hit .292 for the match compared to a .224 attack percentage for the Flyers.  Both teams also had nine blocks and five service aces in the afternoon encounter.

Lewis was led by Hannah Koeneman, who totaled 18 kills.  Danielle Mount chipped in with 10 kills and Jen Krumwiede recorded 19 digs.

The Bulldogs hit better than .300 in both the second and fourth sets with figures of .366 and .325, respectively.  Meanwhile, they limited LU to only a .086 showing in set three and the Flyers failed to hit .300 in any of the four sets.

FSU never trailed in the second or fourth set and was behind only once in set three after the first set saw five lead changes and the score tied on 11 occassions.

Ferris State will be back in action later this evening as the Bulldogs will square off against nationally 13th-ranked Northern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. (ET) in the Mizuno GLVC/GLIAC Crossover.  The Norse enter the tournament with a 15-2 overall record and are seeded second on the GLVC side.

A total of 32 teams are taking part in the two-day tournament at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora. The field features 16 GLVC schools, 14 GLIAC schools in addition to the two non-affiliated teams in Madonna and Cedarville, which are seeded on the GLIAC side to even the bracket.