This Week - The Bulldogs will complete a five-game home stand with two matches at the Ewigleben Sports Arena this weekend. Both matches will be against GLIAC South Division foes. On Friday (Sept. 22), Ferris State will host Mercyhurst (Pa.) at 7 p.m. Gannon (Pa.) will visit Big Rapids on Saturday (Sept. 23) with match time slated for 4 p.m. With three wins at home this past weekend, Ferris State now holds an all-time record of 189-50 at the Ewigleben Sports Arena. Mercyhurst has not won at Ewigleben in two appearances. The Lady Knights of Gannon are 2-1 all-time in Big Rapids. After these two matches, the Bulldogs will have just three home matches remaining. The next home match will be Oct. 10 against Grand Valley State at 7 p.m.
Buckner Moves Up - Senior Morgan Buckner posted 17 kills against Michigan Tech on Saturday to move into sixth place on the all-time career kills chart at Ferris State. Entering the weekend, Buckner needed 18 kills to move up on the chart. The 5-9 outside hitter had 10 kills on Friday against Northern Michigan and added 17 against Michigan Tech to move past Stephanie Chaffin on the all-time list. Chaffin had 1,240 kills during her career (1989-92). With 13 additional kills on Sunday against Lake Superior State, Buckner now has 1, 262 kills. Sheri Harris currently stands fifth with 1,346 kills. Senior Sarah VanderMolen added 42 kills to her total this weekend. She remains 10th all-time with 1,057 kills.
Great Percentage - Senior Sarah VanderMolen had 17 kills on 22 attacks against Lake Superior State on Sunday to post the sixth-best attack percentage in a single match in school history. Her attack percentage was .727. Lori Blair holds the individual match record for best attack percentage with a minimum of 15 attempts. She hit .760 against Metropolitan State (Colo.) on Oct. 19, 1990.
Senior Hitter Honored - VanderMolen was honored before the start of Friday night's match and presented with a commemorative volleyball for becoming the 10th player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. She went over the century mark in a five-set match against Northern Kentucky on Sept. 9 at the Fairview Inn Classic in Midland, Mich.
Squad Ranked - In the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association weekly poll (AVCA), which was released today (Sept. 19), Ferris State is tied for 25th. FSU received 26 points and is tied with Cameron (Okla.) and North Florida. Two other GLIAC schools are ranked. Northwood is sixth and Grand Valley State is No. 17.
Bulldog Bites - Ferris State is 41-6 overall in games played this season...The Bulldogs have not lost a second game this season. They have a 14-0 mark in that set ...FSU has won 11 matches this season in three games...Ferris State has won eight matches in a row at home dating back to last season. Since 1998, the Bulldogs are 31-3 at the Ewigleben Sports Arena...Coach Tia Brandel needs just 11 wins to move into second place on the career victory list past Kathy DeBoer (1980-83). Jill Hirschinger totaled 330 wins during her career at Ferris State (1984-95) to establish the school mark...Brandel currently has the second-best winning percentage in school history at .664 and is just three victories shy of recording her 100th at Ferris State...Sophomore Angie Desmarais posted a career high seven blocks against Michigan Tech. Her previous high had been one recorded last year against Ashland. She also had a career high three kills in the same match...Coach Brandel is 56-32 all-time against GLIAC foes.