#4 Ferris State Opens Ohio Trip With Sweep Over Ashland In Key League Match

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally fourth-ranked Ferris State Volleyball team began a two-game road trip to Ohio with a 3-0 shutout victory over Ashland in a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tilt on Friday (Oct. 9) night inside AU's Kates Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs took the opening set 25-23 followed by an idential 25-23 victory in the second frame. Finally, FSU sealed the win to improve to 16-1 overall this campaign with a 25-22 triumph in the third set.

Ferris State hit .257 overall for the match with 37 kills compared to Ashland's .223 figure on 39 kills. The Eagles had 49 digs, five aces and four blocks to go with 10 service errors. FSU also had 10 errors at the service line while posting 43 digs, five aces and two blocks overall.

FSU received eight kills each from sophomore middle hitter Ayanna Buckley along with junior setter Stephanie Sikorski. Meanwhile, senior outside hitter Alexis Huntey added seven kills while both senior hitter Megan Vander Meer and senior middle hitter Caroline Heitzman tallied six each.

In the backrow, freshman hitter Katie Placek had a team-best 11 digs with junior libero Danielle Dowd adding nine digs and Huntey chipping in eight overall. Sikorski added six with 21 assists in the victory.

Alli Cudworth led Ashland with a match-high 13 kills and Samantha Zuber totaled 10 kills. Casey Clark posted 13 digs, Melanie Aguayo notched 11 digs and Mallory Slyder recorded 29 assists in the setback.

Ferris State remains the lone unbeaten team in the GLIAC with a 8-0 conference record to date.
Ashland fell to 11-5 overall and 6-2 in league action after the loss.

The Bulldogs will wrap up their trip to Ohio by visiting Lake Erie on Saturday (Oct. 10) for a 5 p.m. (ET) league encounter in Painesville, Ohio.