#8 Ferris State Suffers First Setback As Cal-State San Bernardino Wins Battle Of Ranked Squads

Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State University volleyball squad dropped its first contest of 2016 as the eighth-ranked Bulldogs fell to 20th-ranked Cal St. San Bernardino on Friday (Sept. 2) night at the Bulldogs' own home invitational.

FSU fell 3-0 to the Thunderwolves inside the Ewigleben Sports Arena as first day action wrapped up in the Ferris State Invitational.

The loss was Ferris State's first regular season home setback since Sept. 7, 2013, when the Dawgs fell 3-1 to Washburn, snapping a 33-match home court win streak. The Thunderwolves won 25-22, 25-19, 26-24 on Friday evening. FSU had beat West Virginia State 3-0 in its season opener earlier in the day.

The Bulldogs hit .162 for the match after hitting .370 earlier in the afternoon. The Thunderwolves countered with a .258 mark and out-blocked Ferris State 8.5 to four for the match as well, winning the battle at the net.

Sophomore outside hitter Katie Placek had 13 kills for FSU while freshman outside hitter Allyson Cappel added 12 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Brewer added three kills in the third set on four chances to give the Bulldogs late life, but FSU fell 26-24 in the final set of the match as Cal-State San Bernardino held on for the win.

Senior setter Stephanie Sikorski led all setters in the match with 36 assists as compared to CSU San Bernardino's Jayann DeHoog, who had 35 helpers.

Placek also paced Ferris State defensively with 15 digs. Junior libero Lauren Reminga added 14 with Cappel chipping in 13 digs.

Abbey Vollkommer had 18 kills for the Thunderwolves to lead everyone on the floor while Lauren Nicholson tallied 14 kills.

Kaili Scott finished with five block assists and Hailey Jackson earned four to stifle the Bulldog offensive attack.

With the loss, Ferris State falls to 1-1 overall while CSUSB improved to 1-1. The Bulldogs return to action against nationally 10th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday (Sept. 3) at 12 p.m. (ET) before hosting 21st-ranked Winona State to wrap up the invitational starting at 5 p.m. (ET) in Big Rapids.