Volleyball Drops Hard-Fought 3-2 Match To Ferris State In GLIAC Tournament

OVERVIEW – FERRIS STATE

SCORE: Ferris State Bulldogs 3, Northwood Timberwolves 2 (20-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10)

RECORDS: Northwood (8-5), Ferris State (11-4)

LOCATION: Ryder Center – University Center, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball drops hard-fought 3-2 match to Ferris State Friday afternoon (April 9) in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament.

INSIDE THE MATCH

• The Timberwolves led 5-4 early in the opening set when the Bulldogs scored five straight points to go up 9-5. Northwood responded with nine of the next 12 points to go up 14-11. The key stretch of the set came with the Timberwolves leading 19-18 – NU scored four straight go to up 23-18 before winning 25-20. Northwood hit .265 in the set (11-2-34) compared to Ferris State at .156 (16-9-45).
• Northwood got off to a good start in the second set as well, scoring six of the first nine points. FSU responded in a big way, scoring eight of the net nine points to lead 11-7. NU got back within three at 15-12, only to see the Bulldogs put up five of the next six point to lead 20-13 on their way to a 25-18 win. Ferris State jumped up to .225 in the second (12-3-40). Northwood fell back to .079 (11-8-38) in the set.
• The Timberwolves got off to another good start in the third set, leading 7-3 early.  The Bulldogs rallied back to get within one at 10-9 and 11-10, but were never able to level the score. Northwood led by as many as seven points before eventually winning 25-19 for a 2-1 lead in the match. NU finished the third set hitting .213 (16-6-47), while FSU finished at .120 (12-6-50).
• The fourth set featured early runs for both teams. NU once again started fast, earning seven of the first nine points. Ferris State immediately followed with nine of the next 11 points to take an 11-9 lead. NU trailed 16-13 before rallying back to take a 21-20 lead.  The score was tied 22-22 when the Bulldogs scored the final three points to take the set 25-22 and level the overall match 2-2.  It was a defensive set overall – NU hit .163 as a team (12-5-43) while FSU finished at .143 (16-8-56).
• Ferris State started the fifth slowly building their lead early on. Through 12 points, FSU did not take more than two points in a row but did build up a lead of 8-4. The Bulldogs then scored four straight to go up 12-5. NU got no closer than four points the rest of the way as Ferris State took the set 15-10.  Northwood hit just .087 in the final set (7-5-23) while FSU had their best hitting set of the match at .368 (10-3-19).

MATCH STATS

• HITTING: Ferris State .176 (66-29-210), Northwood .168 (57-26-185)
• DIGS: Ferris State 88, Northwood 97 (Lauren Bell – 22)
• BLOCKS: Ferris State 7, Northwood 10 (Mary Gallagher – Eight)
• ACES: Ferris State 6, Northwood 6 (Megan Acs/Venera Kadriu – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Venera Kadriu: 16 kills, 20 digs, two aces, two blocks
• Mary Gallagher: 11 kills, eight blocks
• Grace Rekeweg: 12 kills, 17 digs, two blocks
• Maya Ferland: 10 kills, two blocks
• Macy Lintz: 52 assists, 15 digs, three blocks

UP NEXT

• Northwood will face either Ashland or Grand Valley State in the consolation bracket Saturday (April 10) at 1 p.m.