BLOG 7: Ferris off to face some tough competition

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State volleyball player Ashley Huntey reaches back for a spike during a home match this season against Aquinas in Ewigleben Sports Arena. (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – Heading south, to Florida, Ferris State University’s volleyball team expects to face some top-notch national competition at the University of Tampa Classic this weekend.

The Bulldogs (4-1) will play four non-conference matches that take them out of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and out of the Great Lakes Region. Friday (Sept. 5), Ferris gets started with a morning match against Eckerd (Fla.) and finishes its first day with an early-evening contest against Colorado State-Pueblo. Saturday, Ferris continues competition with a contest against the nation’s fifth-ranked NCAA Division II team according to the CBS College Sports/American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, Tampa, in a 7 p.m. showdown.

Matches like this are important for the Bulldogs who get a chance to battle some of the nation’s top teams in a neutral setting. If nothing else, Ferris has an opportunity to see how it stacks up, once again, against tough competition. During the Ferris State Invitational, last weekend in Big Rapids, the Bulldogs dropped a 3-1 decision to eighth-ranked Minnesota-Duluth in Ewigleben Sports Arena. Sparked by strong play from senior setter/outside hitter Andrea Rich, the team has won four of its first five matches this season. Rich, the GLIAC’s North Division Player of the Week (Sept. 3), totaled 11 kills, 25 assists and 10 digs in the loss to Duluth.

This University of Tampa-hosted event is of particular importance as the Bulldogs begin GLIAC competition on Sept. 12 when they travel to Midland to face Northwood, in a 7 p.m. contest, and then to Detroit to face Wayne State, in a 4 p.m. match on Sept. 13.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com