A record-breaking night for senior setter Kaylee Maat paved the way for the No. 1 ranked Bulldog volleyball team to sweep their final homestand.
Maat broke the all-time GLIAC assist record on Saturday, Nov. 9. She now sits at 5,466 total assists topping the previous record set by Grand Valley’s Kristy Kale with 5,441 in 2000.
Maat gave credit to her teammates for her historic night.
“My passers make my job very easy, and it’s a cool thing to have my name out there, but I am not doing it for me,” Maat said. “I’m doing it for the girls playing next to me every match.”
The Bulldogs (26-0, 15-0 in GLIAC) took home a hard-fought win against the Northern Michigan Wildcats (17-8, 11-4 in GLIAC) on Friday, Nov. 8 by a score of 3-0. Then Ferris took down the Michigan Tech Huskies (14-11, 8-7 in GLIAC) by a score of 3-0 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs remain the only undefeated team in all of NCAA DII, along with the Point Loma Sea Lions, who sit at 21-0.
Head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm credited building on losses in past years with their success this season.
“We lost a lot of games when these players were younger, and when these players are young and learn from the losing you figure out who you are and who you want to be,” Brandel-Wilhelm said. “I think this team just tries to get just a little bit better each and every day, and we just learn to take it one day and one game at a time.”
The Bulldogs shut down the Wildcats at the net early and dominantly won the first set by a score of 25-15. The second set was deemed tougher for the Bulldogs, with the two squads fighting for the lead before the Wildcats took a 15-11 lead. However, Ferris crawled back to take a 17-16 lead, eventually winning the second set 26-24. The third set saw the Wildcats take multiple 5-point leads, but the Bulldogs fought back, yet again to close out the match 25-22.
Senior outside hitter Claire Henneman-Dallape led the match with 13 kills and 13.5 total points, while senior outside hitter Claire Nowicki had nine kills and 11.5 total points.
The Bulldogs then faced off against the Huskies, who have only beaten Ferris once in the past three years.
The Bulldogs won the first set by a score of 25-19. Ferris fell into a 19-14 deficit in the second set but won 27-25. Then the Bulldogs finished off their fellow canine foes, winning the third set by a score of 25-22.
This match was led again by a commanding match by Henneman-Dallape, totaling 21 total kills on the day with 22 total points, with Nowicki following behind her with 12 total kills and 14.5 total points. Maat sat at 5,423 assists before the match and tallied 43 more against the Huskies to take over sole possession of the record.
Senior middle hitter Syann Fairfield described Maat as a passionate and hard worker.
“Kaylee has worked so incredibly hard and is so passionate about volleyball but she is more passionate about our team and the program,” Fairfield said. “I think the results of her hard work are truly rolling in and I am so proud of her and so grateful to have been apart of her journey.”
The Bulldogs will finish their regular season on the road this weekend, attempting to finish with a perfect undefeated record and capture their fourth straight GLIAC championship.
Ferris will go against the Purdue Northwest Pride on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. and then play its final regular season match of the year against the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
Editor in chief Dylan Rider contributed to the reporting of this article.