Ferris State Volleyball Splits Two Matches Against Ranked Foes In Florida

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad split two matches to open first day action at the "Bash at the Beach" hosted by Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday (Sept. 9) in West Palm Beach, Fla.

FSU topped nationally-ranked Washburn in a 3-2 thriller in the opening match of the event before falling to host and preseason #3 Palm Beach Atlantic 3-0 in evening action.

In match one, the Bulldogs dropped the first set in close fashion 27-25 before coming back for a 25-19 win in the second frame. FSU took a 2-1 lead in the match by winning the third set 25-15 before Washburn posted a 25-18 decision in the fourth set. Ferris State emerged the winner with a 15-9 victory in the deciding set.

The Bulldogs posted an impressive .281 attack figure and compiled 61 kills with 96 digs and nine blocks. Washburn totaled 56 kills and hit only .142 with 87 digs and three blocks. FSU had five aces and WU totaled nine overall.

Freshman Allyson Cappel paced FSU with a match-high 19 kills and added 16 digs. Sophomore Katie Placek chipped in with 15 kills and a team-high 25 digs with Ayanna Buckley totaling 12 kills and libero Lauren Reminga posting 24 digs. Senior setter Stephanie Sikorski finished with 55 assists and 14 digs for the Bulldogs with Katie Konjarevich recording 15 digs.

Palm Beach Atlantic scored a 25-21 win over the Bulldogs in the opening set of the second match and then took the victory with wins of 25-16 and 25-19 in the second and third frames respectively.

In the showdown with the Sailfish, teh Bulldogs were limited to a .123 attack figure with 31 kills and 17 errors on 114 total attacks. The hosts hit .230 overall and compiled 43 kills in the contest.

Ferris State was led in match two by Cappel with 11 kills. Both Courtney Brewer and Placek chipped in six kills each. Meanwhile, Reminga compiled 25 kills with Placek adding 10 digs. Sikorski totaled 28 assists in the setback for the Bulldogs.

Overall, FSU totaled 59 digs and also had four service aces in comparison to Palm Beach Atlantic's 57 digs and eight aces. Ferris State compiled six blocks and the Sailfish had nine overall.

Ferris State will wrap up action in the event with two matches on Saturday (Sept. 10) against McKendree (Ill.) and Florida Tech starting at 12:30 p.m. (ET) and 2:30 p.m., respectively.