Ferris State Volleyball Captures Second-Straight GLIAC Tournament Championship

Video Highlights/Recap

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball team captured its second-straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship to complete a sweep of the league regular-season and postseason crowns as the Bulldogs beat Findlay 3-0 on Sunday afternoon before a capacity crowd at FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

The top-seeded Bulldogs earned the 25-18, 25-17, 27-25 win over the Oilers to claim the tournament title and receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament set for Dec. 3-5 at a site to be announced.

The official NCAA Tournament selections will be announced on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. (ET) at www.NCAA.com. Fans are invited to join the Bulldogs at Buffalo Wild Wings in Big Rapids for the live selection announcement.

Ferris State's victory was its 31st triumph of the season as the Bulldogs beat the Oilers for the second time this year. It capped a three-match run thru the GLIAC Tournament this week that saw FSU win all three contests in straight-sets.

The Bulldogs rolled in set one for a 25-18 victory to open the match and then came back to beat Findlay 25-17 in the second frame. FSU then had to rally late in the third set before pulling out a 27-25 extra-point win to earn the victory.

Sophomore middle hitter Ayanna Buckley led the Bulldogs with 12 kills and added four block assists in the win. Meanwhile, senior middle hitter Caroline Heitzman tallied 10 kills for FSU.

The Bulldogs also received seven kills from senior outside hitter Megan Vander Meer, who added a team-high 16 digs in the victory. Senior libero Danielle Dowd had 14 digs, freshman Katie Placek netted 13 digs and FSU also received both six kills and six digs by senior hitter Alexis Huntey.

FSU junior setter Stephanie Sikorski notched 38 assists in leading the attack. Her performance helped Ferris State to a .275 hitting figure with 40 kills and only 10 errors on 109 attacks.

Ferris State totaled 11 block assists and came up with seven service aces while finishing with eight service mistakes.

The Oilers were led by Amanda Winner, who recorded 12 kills. Libero Becca Shoemaker totaled 18 digs in the match.

Overall, Findlay hit only .102 for the afternoon with 37 kills and 24 errors on 128 attempts. UF finished with 53 digs, four block assists and two aces to go with seven service errors in dropping to 25-8 overall this season.

The Bulldogs had three players named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team following completion of the championship match. Vander Meer received Most Valuable Player Award accolades with Dowd and Buckley also named to the seven-member team.

Ferris State won the GLIAC Tournament for the third time in school history as last year's run thru the conference tournament was the school's first since 2004. Overall, the Bulldogs were making their 18th-straight GLIAC Tournament appearance this season.

The Bulldogs' showing in the tournament title match marked the third time FSU has reached the championship round since 2011 and it was the seventh time in school history in which Ferris State played in the league final.

Ferris State, which is currently 31-2 overall this year, will await the NCAA Selection Show on Monday night. The Bulldogs, by virtue of their automatic bid, will receive the 20th all-time NCAA Tournament berth in school history and it will mark the fifth-straight year in which FSU has advanced to the national tournament. The Bulldogs have been the number one seed in the region all year and could potentially play host to the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament when the selection announcement is made.

Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for additional information.