Ferris State took a narrow win and a hard loss over the weekend against GLIAC rivals Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State.
The Bulldogs were able to snag a 3-2 road win against Saginaw Valley on Oct. 3.
Ferris put up a strong opening set with a .429 match set-best hitting percentage that helped the Bulldogs never trail in the match. However, the Cardinals came back to take a 26-all tied set and win it 28-26.
From then on, the Bulldogs traded the Cardinals each set. First Ferris seized a 25-21 set, then lost the fourth set 22-25, which eventually led to the capture of the fifth and final set with a match score of 15-12 for the road victory.
“I think that our team preformed well in our match against Saginaw,” said senior libero Dana Ruttle. “We executed our game plan and finished strong during a close fifth set.”
Sophomore setter Samantha Fordyce guided the Ferris State offense with a season-high 48 assists.
Three Bulldogs, including junior outside hitter Ashley Huntey, senior middle hitter Arielle Goodson, and sophomore Aly Brecht, all obtained double-digits in kills for Ferris. Huntey turned in huge numbers for the Bulldogs with 17 kills on a .225 attacking percentage and 14 digs that added up for her fourth double-double performance of the season.
Goodson held down both offense and defense for the Bulldog ladies by adding 16 kills, 6 block assists, and one solo block. Brecht added a .243 hitting percentage for her 11 kills on 37 attempts.
“To continue our streak of winning seasons we need to continue to play at a high level every game, always play together as a team, and embrace Ferris volleyball as a winning program,” said Goodson.
On the defensive end, junior libero Lisa Tobiczyk led all players in digs with a total of 23 while Ruttle supplied nine digs in the Bulldog victory. The Ferris State ladies also combined for 8 total blocks.
The Ferris women were handed a 3-0 loss, marking the sixth loss against GVSU in the last seven meetings.
“Against Grand Valley, our team didn’t execute the game plan and instead we placed ourselves in a position to give them points on our errors,” said Ruttle.
For Ferris, Goodson declared match-high honors with 16 kills on 31 attempts for a .419 attack percentage while both Brecht and Sutton added seven kills apiece. Sutton also recorded a .333 hitting percentage for the match. Fordyce had a match leading 29 assists and added 13 digs for Ferris. Tobiczyk’s 16 digs and Huntey’s 12 digs helped pace the Bulldogs but were not enough for a victory.
“Our main focus will be to continue moving forward towards our next opponents, no matter the outcome of the previous game,” said Goodson. “We’re taking one game at a time.”
Ferris will next play two GLIAC South Division teams at home. First the Bulldogs will face the Ashland Eagles at 7 p.m. Oct. 8. Then they will play Lake Eerie Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. Both matches will be held in the Ewigleben Sports Arena. n