Bulldog Volleyball Upset By Wayne State In GLIAC Quarterfinals

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad was upset on Wednesday (Nov. 14) evening by Wayne State in a thrilling 3-2 match during the quarterfinal round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament at FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

The seventh-seeded Warriors dropped the opening set 25-23 before bouncing back to take sets two and three by scores of 25-12 and 25-21, respectively.  FSU forced the deciding set by notching a 25-19 win in the fourth frame, but the Warriors pulled out the road win over the second-seeded Bulldogs with a 15-12 triumph in the final set.

With the win, the Warriors will advance to the league tournament semifinals this Saturday (Nov. 17) in Midland.  The loss drops FSU to 23-7 overall this campaign.

Ferris State entered the match ranked third in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Rankings and the Bulldogs should receive an NCAA Tournament berth when the official announcement is made this Sunday (Nov. 18) evening at 10 p.m. (ET) at www.ncaa.com.  The top eight teams in the region advance to the regional, which will take place Nov. 29-Dec. 2 at a campus site to be announced.

The Warriors recorded a .257 attack percentage and had 74 kills to only 46 for the Bulldogs in notching the victory.  They totaled 28 errors on 179 total attacks as opposed to FSU's 20 errors on 172 attempts.  FSU hit .151 for the evening.

Kristin Bulkiewicz totaled 28 kills in leading Wayne State to the victory and the Warriors received 58 assists from Cydney Biessel.  Wayne State posted 97 digs, eight blocks and four service aces, but did have 12 errors at the service line.

On the Ferris State side, FSU recorded 67 digs, eight blocks, nine aces and five service errors.  

Senior middle hitter Anne Sutton and senior outside hitter Aly Brecht both notched 13 kills each in leading the Bulldogs.  Senior setter Samantha Fordyce recorded 41 assists and the Bulldogs had four players reach double-figures in digs, including sophomore outside hitter Courtney Rehm with 16, junior libero Brandie Merren with 14, senior defensive specialist Paige Wyers with 11 and Brecht with 10.

Madie Kent notched 28 digs in pacing the Warriors while Lindsey Graciak contributed 24 digs, Jamie Goryca had 16, Bulkiewicz netted 12 and Cydney Biessel posted 10 on the night.

Ferris State received five service aces from senior Brianna Grover and her efforts from the service line in the fourth set helped the Bulldogs battle back to force the deciding fifth frame.  Sutton totaled a team-high four block assists and a solo block for the Bulldogs at the net.

Overall, the match was tied 41 times on the night and it featured 19 lead changes, including two in the final deciding set.

The Warriors improved to 18-12 overall with the triumph over FSU, which avenged an earlier 3-2 Bulldog road win in the lone regular-season meeting between the two schools this season on Oct. 20 in Detroit.

Ferris State had won nine of its last 10 matches coming into the tournament and was fresh off a 3-0 sweep over the league's number one overall seed in Northwood during the regular-season finale at home last Saturday (Nov. 10).

Official NCAA Tournament selections will be announced on Sunday night at 10 p.m. (ET) at www.ncaa.com.