VICTORY! #18 Ferris State Volleyball Knocks Off #3 West Texas A&M In Season Opener

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's volleyball squad started off its 2024 season in a huge way on Thursday (Sept. 5) evening, topping nationally third-ranked West Texas A&M by a 3-2 score at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic in Canyon, Texas.

The nation's 18th-ranked Bulldogs won the top 20 matchup with a 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 16-25, 15-12 triumph at the WTAMU Fieldhouse, which is also known as "The Box".

Ferris State jumped in front early with a pair of wins in the opening two frames before the Buffs rallied to tie the match back up. In the fifth, though, the Bulldogs prevailed, hitting .333 overall in the final frame.

Senior hitter Olivia Henneman-Dallape paced the Bulldog attack with 23 kills in the contest while fellow senior middle hitter Chelsie Freeman returned to her home state of Texas and produced 15 kills. The Bulldogs also got eight kills each from both senior Claire Nowicki and junior Syann Fairfield.

Overall, FSU hit .240 on the night with 65 kills and 23 attack errors on 175 attempts compared to West Texas A&M's .191 hitting figure. The Buffs had 26 attack mistakes with 60 kills on 178 tries.

Senior setter Kaylee Maat notched 45 assists for FSU.

Defensively, senior libero Leah Bylut tallied 27 digs while Nowicki added 15 digs. Maat finished with 14 digs in the match and the duo of both Henneman-Dallape along with Emma Bleecher contributed 10 digs apiece.

Freeman added six block assists at the net. Meanwhile, Nowicki posted four block assists and Henneman-Dallape notched three assisted efforts.

In total, the Bulldogs recorded 84 digs in the tilt and finished with 14 block assists and two solo blocks. Ferris State had three service aces and 12 service errors.

West Texas A&M was led by Emma Becker with 17 kills. Bryli Contreras had 26 digs. The Buffs finished with 78 digs, 16 block assists, two solo blocks and seven aces to go with seven errors from the service line.

The Bulldogs will continue action in the event on Friday (Sept. 6) against Texas A&M International at 4 p.m. (ET) before facing West Virginia State on Saturday (Sept. 7) in the final day of competition at the season-opening event starting at 10 a.m. (ET).