November 22, 2024

Ferris State volleyball player Olivia Henneman-Dallape earns GLIAC Player of the Year honors, Tia Brandel-Wilhelm named Coach of the Year

Olivia Henneman-Dallape of the top-ranked Ferris State University volleyball team was named 2024 Player of the Year by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of several honors for the team and its coach.
The Bulldogs, boasting a 29-0 record heading into the conference semi-finals, landed five of the GLIAC’s six major awards as the 2024 all-conference squads were announced on Friday.

The awards were announced leading into the GLIAC Semifinals and Finals, which will be hosted by Ferris State on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 23-24, inside Bulldog Arena.

Henneman-Dallape, an outside hitter, garnered 2024 GLIAC Player of the Year honors and was also chosen as the GLIAC's Offensive Player of the Year. She was the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week six times this season.
Senior setter Kaylee Maat was named the GLIAC Setter of the Year and freshman Gabby Piazza was recognized as the GLIAC Freshman of the Year.

Head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm claimed GLIAC Coach of the Year honors for the eighth time in her Bulldog tenure while Maat earned Setter of the Year accolades for the third consecutive season and Henneman-Dallape repeated as the Offensive Player of the Year.

Ferris State's six all-conference selections included a trio of first team picks in Henneman-Dallape, Maat and senior outside hitter Claire Nowicki. Senior middle hitters Syann Fairfield and Chelsie Freeman both garnered All-GLIAC Second Team mention while senior libero Leah Bylut attained GLIAC Honorable Mention laurels.

Henneman-Dallape, a senior from Oregon, Ohio, led the Bulldogs to the 2024 GLIAC Championship and an unbeaten regular-season.

The standout has compiled a team-leading 402 kills to date this year while averaging 4.23 kills per set for a team that dropped only three sets in league regular-season play.

Henneman-Dallape has posted a .339 attack percentage in 29 matches to date and has also registered 61 total blocks. The Bulldog veteran recorded her 1,000th career kill.  

Maat, from Hudsonville, became the GLIAC's all-time career assists leader with more than 5,000 assists and has notched 943 assists to date this season, averaging nearly 10 assists per set.

She's started all 29 matches for a Bulldog squad that drooped only three sets in GLIAC regular season play.

Additionally, Maat has compiled 196 digs, 71 kills, 32 blocks and 29 aces on the year for the nation's number one team. She was recognized as the GLIAC Setter of the Week five times this fall.

Piazza has played a key role in her initial collegiate campaign with produced 160 kills with a .302 attack percentage in 24 contests. She added 19 blocks and 49 digs overall while appearing in 71 sets. Piazza reached double-digit kills in seven matches this season.

Brandel-Wilhelm has led the Bulldogs to one of the most historic seasons in school history.  Under her direction, Ferris State won the program's 19th GLIAC Regular Season Championship and captured either the league regular season or tournament title in nine of the past 10 seasons.

The Bulldogs advanced to the GLIAC Tournament for the 27th consecutive year and recorded a perfect 17-0 GLIAC regular-season mark.  

Ferris State is the number one team in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings and is expected to receive the program's 13th-straight NCAA Tournament bid this year under Brandel-Wilhelm and the 28th in program history.

Top-seeded Ferris State will play host to the 2024 GLIAC Semifinals and Finals this Saturday, Mov. 23, and Sunday, Nov. 24, at Bulldog Arena.

The Bulldogs play the first semifinal match on Saturday starting at noon against fifth-seeded Michigan Tech University. The second semifinal will begin at 2:30 p.m. as second-seeded Grand Valley State University faces third-seeded Northern Michigan University. The two semifinal winners will meet in the league tournament title match at 3 p.m. on Sunday.