2000-01 Preview

After finishing third in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region last season, Ferris State has aspirations of earning an automoatic bid to NCAA National Championships by finishing among the top two teams in the region this season.

Ferris State's performance last season provides the Bulldogs with something to build on this year as the team placed among the top six in nine tournaments, including three first-place efforts.

The Bulldogs, under second-year head coach Brad Bedortha, will be led by a solid group of returning players, including Kathryn Bobbie (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), Jenn Soltis (Oshawa, Ont.) and Jen Dziabo (Crown Point, Ind.) -- a trio of sophomores who form the backbone of the team. Soltis led the Bulldogs with a stroke average of 81.0 in 10 rounds and captured medalist honors at the Findlay Fall Classic. Bobbie averaged 81.4 strokes in 14 rounds while winning both the Minnesota State, Mankato Invitational and the Ferris State Spring Invitational. Dziabo had the team's third best average, 86.9 in 20 rounds, highlighted by a third-place finish at both the Tri-State Fall Invitational and the Ferris State Spring Invite.

Three seniors -- Amber Kennon (Lansing), Melissa Jack (Victor, Iowa), and Meren LeBoeuf (Menominee), who have been an important part of the Bulldogs' program the last three seasons, will only play in the 2000 fall season before graduating.

Hoping to fill the void created by their departure will be freshman Cassie Graves (Black River, Wis.) and a group of returning players, including sophomore Stephanie Koppe (Plymouth/Plymouth-Canton), junior Sarah Stone (Newport/Airport Senior) and junior Jessica Wiersum (Wayland/Thornapple-Kellogg).

The Bulldogs will seek to win their first-ever Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship in the spring and thus make their initial team trip to the NCAA Division II National Championships.