Ferris State Volleyball Sweeps Rival GVSU As 'Dawgs Top Lakers For Fifth-Straight Time

Big Rapids, Mich. - Nationally 20th-ranked Ferris State University completed a regular-season sweep of archrival Grand Valley State on Tuesday (Nov. 1) evening as the Bulldogs swept the Lakers 3-0 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play inside FSU's Ewigleben Sports Arena.

A capacity crowd saw FSU claim its 17th-straight win this year by beating GVSU 25-22, 25-10 and 25-21 to improve to 21-5 overall and 12-1 in GLIAC play. The win was the Bulldogs' 12th over the Lakers in the last 16 matchups to date.

Ferris State got off to a quick start in topping Grand Valley State for the fifth consecutive time as the Bulldogs pulled out a close win in the opening frame. FSU hit .200 in the first set and finished the match with a strong .237 attack figure.

The Bulldogs limited Grand Valley State to only a .075 hitting figure for the night, which included a -.152 showing in the second set when FSU rolled to a 25-10 triumph. Ferris State then closed the match by rallying for a 25-21 victory in the third set to complete the sweep.

Freshman hitter Allyson Cappel along with middle hitter Mekayla Carey and sophomore Katie Placek all totaled eight kills apiece in a balanced FSU lineup. Junior middle Ayanna Buckley contributed six kills and fellow middle hitter Maria Kronner tallied five in the win.

Overall, the Bulldogs notched 37 kills with 15 errors on 93 total attempts. FSU also compiled 41 digs with three aces, all of which came from Cappel. 

Ferris State was also strong at the net with 11 total blocks for the match, including three solo blocks and two assists from Buckley. Cappel had three solo blocks while three others posted a pair of assists at the net.

Defensively, Placek led FSU with 12 digs and libero Lauren Reminga chipped in with 10 digs. Senior setter Stephanie Sikorski compiled 31 assists in her final regular-season match versus GVSU.

The Lakers totaled 33 kills and 25 errors on 107 attacks while coming up with 41 digs, six blocks and two aces. GVSU also had nine service mistakes.

Staci Brower led Grand Valley State with a match-high nine kills and Amanda Glaza posted a team-best eight digs on the Laker side. 

With the setback, GVSU fell to 13-11 overall and 7-6 in GLIAC action.

Tuesday's match pitted two of the top three teams in the GLIAC North Division entering the contest as the Bulldogs currently have a league-best 12-1 mark in conference play and are the only remaining team in either division with only a single conference loss this year.

The contest was the first of three league outings this week for the Bulldogs, who will then visit Lake Superior State on Friday (Nov. 4) and Saginaw Valley State on Saturday (Nov. 5) in GLIAC play.