Volleyball Earns 3-1 Road Win Over Ferris State In GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinals

The Northwood University volleyball team claimed a 3-1 road win over Ferris State in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament Wednesday night (November 20).  Set scores were 26-24, 27-25, 25-23, 25-15.

The Timberwolves avenged a pair of regular season losses to the Bulldogs with the victory.  Northwood improves to 21-9 with the win. Ferris State falls to 22-8 with the loss.

The contest was a matchup of two of the top three teams in the Midwest Region, with Ferris State ranking second and Northwood third.

In the first set, neither team ever led by more than three points. The Timberwolves eventually opened up a 24-21 lead, only to see the Bulldogs fight off three straight set points.  But Northwood bounced back to score the final two points and earn a 26-24 win in the opener.  NU finished the opening set hitting .205 (13-4-44) while FSU finished at .159 (14-7-44).

The second set was very similar to the first, with neither team once again leading by more than three points.  The end of the set was nearly identical to the first, only with the teams flipped.  This time, it was Northwood who trailed 24-21 only to fight off four set points.  The Bulldogs scored the final two points this time to level the match after a 27-25 win.  FSU hit .270 (16-6-37) while NU ended at .175 (16-9-40) in the second set.

Northwood got off to a great start in the third set, scoring eight of the first 10 points to open up the biggest lead for either team on the night.  Ferris State fought back, thanks in part to the Timberwolves offense missing the mark.  NU made six consecutive errors (one serve, five attack) to fall behind.  The Bulldogs eventually led 18-16 when Northwood came back. The Timberwolves scored eight of the next 11 points to earn three chances to take the set at 24-21. FSU scored two straight, but Northwood claimed the lead on their third try. Both teams hit under .200 in the set (NU – .178, FS – .143), but Northwood registered four more kills in the frame (16-12).

The Timberwolves jumped out early in the fourth set and never looked back. NU led 4-0 and 8-2 early in the set and did not allow the Bulldogs to get any closer than four points.  Northwood scored the final five points of the match to close things out.

For the match, Northwood hit .194 (57-25-165) while holding Ferris State to a .126 mark (51-30-167). The Timberwolves finished the match with a 13-11 advantage in blocks and a 77-70 edge in digs.

Sophomore Krysta Kramer (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) played one of her best matches of the season in the win. She finished with 19 kills, 12 digs and a .342 attack percentage. Juliia Pakhomenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) finished with 18 kills, 15 digs and three blocks.  Cassandra Marsh (Maumee, Ohio) totaled seven kills and eight blocks, while Jordan Dunn (Bowling Green, Ohio) had 46 assists, 11 digs and six blocks.

Northwood will now face top-seeded Grand Valley State Saturday afternoon (November 23) in the GLIAC Semifinals in Allendale.  Match time is set for 5 p.m.