FSU Volleyball Knocks Off Two Nationally-Ranked Teams Including The Nation's #1 To Stay Unbeaten

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally 21st-ranked Ferris State women's volleyball squad had a big day in its own home invitational on Friday (Aug. 24) as the Bulldogs swept a pair of nationally-ranked teams, including the nation's #1 squad inside the Ewigleben Sports Arena.

FSU topped 17th-ranked Winona State (Minn.) by a 3-0 score in early afternoon action before knocking off top-ranked and defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul before a near capacity crowd in the nightcap to move to 3-0 on the year.

In the opener, the Bulldogs swept Winona State by scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-13. Ferris State then came back and topped Concordia-St. Paul with an impressive 25-13, 25-19 and 25-22 decision.

The Bulldogs tallied 37 kills and hit .267 overall in the win over Winona State while compiling 39 digs to go with 13 service aces and four blocks. FSU also limited the Warriors to a .063 attack figure with WSU finishing the match with 29 kills.

In match number one, unior outside hitter Allyson Cappel had 13 kills while sophomore outside hitter Katie O'Connell had eight as did middle hitter Mekayla Carey.

The Bulldogs also received 15 digs from junior Courtney Brewer along with 14 by libero Katie Placek. Junior setter Maeve Grimes posted 32 assists while Carey added five aces from the service line.

Cori Meyers led the Warriors with eight kills and Becca Pagel finished with 12 digs.

In the nightcap, the Bulldogs toppled Concordia-St. Paul by holding the Golden Bears to a .076 hitting mark. FSU also came up with 53 digs in the triumph and had only eight attack errors while compiling a .276 figure on the attack.

Cappel paced FSU with 12 kills and 10 digs while O'Connell had an impressive performance with nine kills, 13 digs and a .375 figure. FSU also got 14 digs from Placek along with 26 assists by Grimes.

Overall, Ferris State managed seven blocks at the net to three for Concordia-St. Paul.

Concordia-St. Paul received 10 kills from Brooklyn Lewis along with 15 digs by Erin Fallert.

The win marked the second consecutive time in which FSU has beat the Division II power as the Bulldogs also topped Concordia-St. Paul to win the prestigious Colorado Premier Challenge back in 2015 in Denver, Colo.

Ferris State will wrap up its own home invitational against regional rival and former conference foe Hillsdale on Saturday (Aug. 25) starting at 6 p.m. (ET) inside the Ewigleben Sports Arena.