No. 1 ranked Bulldog volleyball came back from deficits in the second and third sets to sweep the Northern Michigan Wildcats 3-0 to improve their record to a perfect 25-0.
The win on Friday, Nov. 8 continually cements Ferris’ top spot in the GLIAC.
The first set saw the Wildcats strike first with a 1-0 lead, then the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to lead 7-1. The Wildcats never held the lead again after the 1-0 start as the Bulldogs won 25-15.
The Bulldogs were dominant on both sides of the ball, stifling the Wildcats at the net on defense. The offense was led by their two outside hitters, senior Olivia Henneman-Dallape and freshman Gabby Piazza.
The second set saw the Bulldogs take the lead first, with the two squads going back and forth until the Wildcats began to pull away at 15-11. Then the Bulldogs came back to tie it at 15-15, then took the lead at 17-16 and never gave it up winning the third set 26-24.
The final set began with the Wildcats being up 7-2 and then 5-10. Bulldogs never gave up, as they clawed back and took the lead at 17-16 late in the third set. After this the Bulldogs kept that lead to win in a close set 25-22, winning the match 3-0.
Head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm was pleased that the players pulled themselves together to pull out the win.
”It’s never my favorite to start off that slow,” Wilhelm said. “I’m happy that my players pulled themselves together and pulled out the hard-fought win.”
Senior setter Kaylee Maat totaled 36 total assists in the match. With today’s performance, she is only 19 assists away from breaking the all-time GLIAC record of 5,441 assists set by Grand Valley’s Kristy Kale from 1997-2000.
The Bulldogs next face off tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. against the Michigan Tech Huskies for their final home game of the season.