This Week - The Bulldogs return home to play their lone home match during the month of October on Tuesday at Ewigleben Sports Arena against archrival Grand Valley State at 7 p.m. This weekend (Oct. 13-14), Ferris State will travel to Findlay and Ashland for a pair of matches against GLIAC South Division foes. The match on Friday at Findlay starts at 7 p.m. Ferris State and Ashland will battle on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Big Victory - Ferris State head coach Tia Brandel recorded her 100th victory at Ferris State on Friday against Wayne State. She now has a record of 101-51 (.664) in five seasons with the Bulldogs. Overall, Brandel has a career mark of 219-71 (.755) in eight seasons at West Virginia Wesleyan and FSU. The win on Friday also marked her 100th career victory in conference action. Brandel was 49-0 in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests while at West Virginia Wesleyan. She is now 52-31 (.626) in GLIAC matches after two victories this past weekend.
Ferris State vs. Grand Valley - Ferris State will host archrival Grand Valley State in a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday at Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids. The Lakers are 18-2 overall and 8-1 in GLIAC action. Grand Valley was ranked 16th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. The match is extremely important for both squads as Grand Valley sits second and Ferris State is fourth in the Great Lakes Regional Ratings. New regional ratings are due to come out on Wednesday. Grand Valley leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs 37-35. At Ewigleben Sports Arena, the Lakers have a 12-7 advantage. Grand Valley also has a 13-12 edge in all matches played in Big Rapids. In Allendale, the Lakers lead the series 24-23. Ferris State coach Tia Brandel is 3-5 in eight meetings with the Lakers. A year ago, the two teams split matches with each team winning at home. The Bulldogs won the last match 3-1 at Ewigleben Sports Arena last season. This season, Ferris State is 9-0 at home. FSU has an all-time record of 189-50 at Ewigleben Sports Arena. Grand Valley State has a 4-1 mark on the road.
Personal Best - Junior Erin Minnis posted a career best 28 kills on 38 attacks (.737) on Friday at Wayne State in an outstanding performance. She also had 11 digs and five blocks. Her previous best of 22 kills on 50 attacks came on Sept. 23 against Gannon. Her .737 attack percentage is tied for the third-best attack percentage in a single match in school history. She also hit .737 in a match at Saginaw Valley State a year ago and Lisa Haan recorded the same percentage against North Dakota on Oct. 15, 1988.
Bulldog Bites - Junior Erin Minnis now leads Ferris State in kills after an impressive weekend. The 6-0 middle hitter has 259 kills this season and is averaging 3.65 kills per game. She also leads the squad in blocks. . .Senior All-American candidate Sarah VanderMolen had just eight kills last weekend but did record 16 digs as she continues to battle an ankle injury. . .Senior Morgan Buckner now needs just 27 kills to move into fifth place on the all-time career kills chart. . .VanderMolen has 230 kills this season and is just 36 kills away from ninth place on the career kills chart. She also needs just 56 digs to become the eight player in school history to record 1,000 career digs and the fifth player to compile 1,000 career kills and digs. . .Coach Brandel needs only seven more victories to record the second-most wins in school history. . .Junior Amanda Kane tied a personal best with 15 digs against Wayne State. She also had 15 digs at Grand Valley State last season. . .Sophomore Erin Rind had a career high 9 kills on 22 attacks against the Warriors on Friday. She had recorded five kills twice before. The most recent time came against Michigan Tech on Oct. 29, 1999.
A LOOK AHEAD - The Bulldogs will travel to the Upper Peninsula next weekend (Oct. 19-21) as Ferris State faces Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. FSU will play its final road contest on Oct. 27 in a rematch at Grand Valley State.
REGIONAL RANKINGS - In the latest NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Rankings, Ferris State is ranked fourth behind Northwood, Grand Valley State and Northern Kentucky. The next regional rankings come out on Oct. 11.