#15 Ferris State Rolls Past Ashland In GLIAC Sweep Before Large Home Crowd

Big Rapids, Mich. - With a large crowd of Bulldog fans behind them on homecoming weekend, the nationally 15th-ranked Ferris State University women's volleyball team recorded an impressive 3-0 sweep over visiting Ashland on Friday (Oct. 3) night inside the Ewigleben Sports Arena.

A capacity crowd was on hand to watch the Bulldogs post the 25-19, 25-20 and 25-21 triumph as FSU moved to 9-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

Ferris State has now won eight of its last nine outings to date this year, including the last three in a row, and FSU also improved to 3-0 at home this campaign.

The Bulldogs bolted out to an early lead in the opening set and finished with an impressive .308 attack figure for the first frame in pulling out a six-point win. FSU then followed that set up by hitting .281 in the second stanza to take a 25-20 victory. In the final third set, the Eagles jumped out early before Ferris State took control to record the sweep.

A balanced FSU lineup was paced by junior Caroline Heitzman's team-high nine kills. She also hit .467 for the match with only a pair of errors on 15 total attempts.

Meanwhile, both senior outside hitter Courtney Rehm and junior hitter Megan Vander Meer tallied eight kills each, including several monster kills which helped energize the home crowd.

The offense was dictated by sophomore setter Stephanie Sikorski, who netted 30 assists in the outing for the Bulldogs. 

Defensively, Ferris State came up with 44 total digs over the three sets of competition, including 11 from Vander Meer along with 11 by libero Danielle Dowd. Both Sikorski and junior Alexis Huntey added eight digs each for the Bulldogs.

Ferris State compiled a .200 attack percentage for the night with 34 kills and only 14 errors on 100 total attacks. The Bulldogs also registered seven service aces, but had eight service mistakes. 

FSU also had a strong night at the net with eight total blocks as Sikorski and Heitzman both tallied four assisted blocks.

The Eagles, who dropped to 4-8 overall and 4-4 in the GLIAC with the loss, were led by Alli Cudworth's match-high 10 kills. Casey Clark added nine kills while Jennifer Vander meer totaled a match-best 20 digs. Clark added 15 digs with Katie Siefert contributing 14 assists.

Overall, Ashland was limited to a .063 attack percentage with 32 kills and 25 errors on 111 total attempts. The Eagles had 50 digs, three aces and three blocks to go with eight service errors.

Ferris State continues its homecoming weekend homestand by hosting Lake Erie on Saturday (Oct. 4) morning in a 10 a.m. (ET) league match at the Ewigleben Sports Arena. 

Saturday's contest will be part of a tripleheader on the day for the Bulldogs as the 13th-ranked FSU football team hosts Findlay beginning at 2 p.m. (ET) at Top Taggart Field before the ninth-ranked hockey squad opens its 2014-15 season at home against the Michigan Wolverines inside the sold out Ewigleben Ice Arena at 7:37 p.m. (ET).