Nov. 12, 2024

GLIAC honors four Ferris State athletes, including two players on top-ranked volleyball team

Four Ferris State University students earned conference Player of the Week honors, including two members of the top-ranked, undefeated volleyball team.

Volleyball player Olivia Henneman-Dallape was chosen as Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the sixth time this season while fellow senior Kaylee Maat earned the GLIAC Setter of the Week distinction for the fifth time this year.

On the basketball court, Mia Riley of the women’s team and Nathan Claerbaut of the men’s team earned Player of the Week honors.

Senior Henneman-Dallape is an outside hitter from Oregon, Ohio. She had a big weekend as the Bulldogs stayed unbeaten with a pair of impressive home sweeps over two Upper Peninsula squads.

She tallied a team-leading 34 kills to go with a .377 attack figure while adding 13 digs and two blocks in 3-0 sweeps over Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan at Bulldog Arena. She averaged 5.67 kills per set and notched 35.5 total points on the weekend.

The Bulldog veteran posted 13 kills with seven digs and a block in Friday's win over NMU before coming back with a match-high 21 kills, six digs and a block on Saturday in FSU's final regular-season home match against Michigan Tech.

Meanwhile, Maat also shined in the two home sweeps at Bulldog Arena. The setter from Hudsonville became the GLIAC's all-time career assists leader over the weekend and now has 5,466 assists in her Ferris State career.

She posted 36 assists and seven digs in Friday's win over NMU before coming back with 43 assists, four digs and two blocks on Saturday as the Bulldogs topped the Huskies on Senior Day in her final regular-season home match.

For the weekend, Maat averaged an impressive 13.17 digs per set for the Bulldogs, who improved to a nation-best 26-0 overall and need only a single win to capture the outright GLIAC Championship with a current 15-0 league record.

The volleyball team will play its final two regular season matches on the road this week, visiting Purdue Northwest University on Friday, Nov. 15 evening along with University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday, Nov. 16.

One the women’s basketball team, junior guard Mia Riley of Fowler was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time.

Riley led the team, ranked No. 15 in the nation, to two impressive regional wins over the weekend in Missouri as Ferris State beat Southwest Baptist University and longtime regional power Drury University on the Panthers' home floor in Springfield.

Now in her third season at Ferris State, Riley tallied 20.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for FSU, which improved to 3-1 on the year against strong season-opening competition. The Fowler product shot 52% from the floor on the weekend and also had a squad-best 10 assists and seven steals for FSU.

Riley started the weekend strong with 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in nearly 36 minutes of work against Southwest Baptist before coming back to score a personal career-high 24 points while adding 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals in 38 minutes against Drury on Sunday. The double-double effort against the Panthers was also the first of her collegiate career.

The team will return home to host Great Lakes Christian College in the squad's home opener on Saturday, Nov. 16.

On the men’s basketball team, junior center Nathan Claerbaut of Zeeland earned this week's GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor and was the first recipient of the year.

The Bulldogs ranked No. 25 in the nation, posted a pair of impressive victories to go 2-0 in the GLIAC/GMAC Crossover event held inside Jim Wink Arena.

The 7-foot Claerbaut had back-to-back double-double showings for Ferris State in the two home wins. He notched 13 points with a game-high 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and steal on Friday night in Ferris State's win over Northwood University and then came back with 12 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists on Saturday in a 94-72 win over Lake Erie College, which had beat GLIAC favorite Lake Superior State in their season opener on Friday evening.

For the weekend, Claerbaut averaged 12.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks as FSU moved to 3-1 overall this year.

This week, the Bulldogs will host longtime regional foe Lewis University on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Wink Arena. FSU then head near St. Louis on Saturday to face McKendree University in another regional test.