Ferris State Volleyball Sweeps Past Malone In Home Match

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad wrapped up weekend action with an impressive 3-0 sweep of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) newcomer Malone on Saturday (Sept. 22) afternoon inside FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

Ferris State claimed the match with set wins of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-14 on the day.

FSU helped kickoff "Paint Big Rapids Pink" in support of breast cancer awareness with the afternoon match against the Canton, Ohio, based school, which officially joined the league this fall.

The win was Ferris State's second over a league newcomer on the weekend as the Bulldogs topped Walsh, also from Canton, on Friday night by an identical 3-0 score.

FSU hit an impressive .345 for the afternoon with 40 kills on 87 total attempts and only 10 errors.  The Bulldogs also combined for 47 digs and six service aces.

A balanced FSU lineup was led by senior middle hitter Anne Sutton's nine kills.  Freshman outside hitter Megan Vander Meer contributed eight kills while both sophomore outside hitter Courtney Rehm and senior outside hitter Aly Brecht netted seven kills each.

Junior libero Brandie Merren totaled 22 digs for the Bulldogs while Rehm added seven and senior setter Samantha Fordyce totaled six digs to go with 34 assists.

Malone was led by Lauren Townley's nine kills.  Diana Wallace added eight kills and Anna Hays picked up six kills.  Kimberly McCracken totaled a team-high nine digs and Jackie Schwamberger posted 19 assists for the Pioneers.

Malone was limited to a .080 attack percentage and had 32 kills with 23 errors on 112 total attacks.  The Pioneers finished with 34 digs and four aces.

The nationally 24th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 9-3 overall this season with the sweep and are now 3-1 in league action.  Malone dropped to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

The Bulldogs open a three-match league road swing on Tuesday (Sept. 25) as they visit archrival Grand Valley State for a 7 p.m. (ET) league tilt in Allendale.  FSU then makes a trip to Ohio to face Tiffin and Ohio Dominican next Friday and Saturday (Sept. 28-29), respectively.