Ferris State hosted their annual home volleyball invitational this past weekend in the Ewigleben Sports Complex.
The Bulldogs started out the weekend on Friday, Sept. 6, by playing California (PA) at 1 p.m.
They easily dispatched California (PA), in only three games. Tallying scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-21.
“I felt like we connected well on the court, which helped the flow of the game,” senior libero Brandie Merren said. “Although there were some areas of the game we need to continue to work on, I was overall very pleased with the way we played.”
Later that day, Ferris played Missouri-St. Louis at 6 p.m. and pulled out their second win with the close scores of 25-23, 26-24, and 25-20.
“We had a rough start, but we played hard to come back and win. Missouri-St. Louis put up a good fight so it was exciting for us to pull out the win in this match. We also learned a lot from this game that we will be working on in the up coming practices,” Merren said.
The invitational heated up for the Bulldogs when they approached the court at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7 to play the 7th ranked team in the nation, Washburn.
“Washburn gave us our biggest struggle,” junior outside hitter Courtney Rehm said. “But it was the first weekend and there are some things we are getting used to as a team.”
Washburn was the only team the Bulldogs fell to, losing in four games: 25-22, 15-25, 21-25, and 24-26.
Ferris faced their last opponent of the weekend at 5 p.m. against Cedarville pulling out three wins very quickly: 25-17, 25-14, and 25-16.
“As always we have things to work on,” Rehm said. “However, I am more than proud of how our team played this first weekend than the outcome.”
Ferris State wrapped up their 2012 season with a 16-2 record in GLIAC play and 24-8 overall record. They reached the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The Bulldogs will face their next opponents on Friday, Sept. 13 in Warrensburg, Missouri against Winona State (Minn.) at 1 p.m. and Central Missouri at 7 p.m.