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In another terrific match between the West Michigan rivals on Tuesday night (Nov. 3) in Allendale, Grand Valley State was unable to finish off a 2-0 lead in the match, dropping a five-set marathon battle to #5 Ferris State (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 13-15). It was the fifth time that the senior classes of the two schools have played a five-set contest against each other during their four-year careers.

GVSU, which has now played six five-set matches this season, drops to 16-9 on the season and 10-4 in conference play. The Bulldogs improved to 24-2 overall and 13-1 in GLIAC play. This week's AVCA Top-25 national rankings had Ferris State at #5, in a tie with defending champion Tampa, but the Bulldogs were ranked #1 in the country last week before a five-set loss at Northern MIchigan last Saturday.

This is the 11th time that Grand Valley State and Ferris State have played over the past four seasons, with each contest having unmatched intensity and excitement. Tuesday night's contest took two hours and 16 minutes to finish and included 40 tie scores and 18 lead changes. Sets two and three were tied 15 and 11 times, respectively, in front of 846 fans inside the Fieldhouse Arena.

The teams were pretty even overall in the statistical categories. Ferris State led in kills (71-68), assists (69-63), aces (5-4), digs (110-105), and total blocks (8-7). The Bulldogs' only decided advantage was on hitting percentage, as FSU hit .254 while Grand Valley State posted a .218 mark. Ferris State committed 18 hitting errors and 14 service errors, while GVSU totaled 22 and eight errors in those categories.

Senior Kaleigh Lound led the Lakers with 17 kills and hit .341 in the contest, while freshman Staci Brower delivered 11 kills and three blocks, while hitting .333. Senior Betsy Ronda provided a double-double with 20 digs, 12 kills, and three blocks. Classmate Jessica Majerle added 10 kills and seven digs for the Lakers, to go with a solo block.

GVSU had four players with double-digit digs, with senior Taylor Shomin's 25 pickups leading the way. She also added nine assists and two of the Lakers' four aces. Sophomore setter Katie Olson passed for 35 assists and picked up 22 digs, while senior Kourtney Wolters tallied 19 digs and nine kills. Freshman setter Taylor Stewart dished out 18 assists, added four digs, and contributed three kills in four attacks.  

Set one was going FSU's way, as the Bulldogs opened up an 11-7 advantage. The Lakers continued to chip away and used three straight kills - two from Brower sandwiched around a kill from Stewart - to close the gap to 15-14. Later in the set, GVSU used back-to-back-to-back kills from Lound, Ronda, and Lound again to tie the match at 19-19. The Bulldogs went up 22-21, but Wolters and Brower put away consecutive kills to give the Lakers a 23-22 lead. Brower added another kill and after a GVSU service error, she finished the frame with her seventh kill in nine swings, giving the home team a 25-23 win. The Lakers hit .304 with 20 kills in the opening stanza.

A 5-0 run in set two put GVSU ahead 9-6, with Brower and freshman Shannon Winicki combining for a block to cap the scoring during the run. Ferris State would bounce back and tie the score at 9-9 and the teams would be tied again at points 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 21. Lound and Majerle notched consecutive kills to put the Lakers ahead, 23-21. The teams would trade the final four points, with Lound and Wolters notching kills to end the set and go ahead in the match 2-0 with another 25-23 win. Grand Valley State again hit well in the set, connecting at a .289 pace with 14 kills and only three errors.

GVSU led set three 12-10 after a Bulldog hitting error and a Brower kill. Ferris State responded with a 5-1 run to regain a 15-13 lead and would hold a slim advantage the rest of the set. A service ace from Wolters brought the Lakers back to 21-20, but FSU scored four of the next five points to take set three. The Bulldogs hit .340 in set three with 19 kills and just three errors.

Ferris State scored five straight points early in set four and opened a 12-7 cushion. Every time the Lakers appeared to be chipping away at the deficit, FSU would do enough to keep Grand Valley State at bay. Back-to-back kills from Brower and freshman Brooke Smith cut the deficit to 19-17. The Bulldogs led 22-20 after a Lound kill and GVSU would get as close as 24-22 before a final Ferris State kill pushed the match to set five.

Set five was tied six times, but the Lakers jumped ahead early with a 5-2 lead after three straight kills from Ronda, Majerle, and Lound - all of which were assisted by Olson. Ferris State came right back to score three points in a row and tie the score at 5-5. FSU looked to be pulling away at 10-8 and again at 12-10, but Ronda and Wolters put down consecutive kills to knot the score at 12-12, the 40th tie score of the evening. The Bulldogs scored the next two points, but kept hope alive with a service error, making the score 14-13. FSU's setter put away the final kill to end the match, 15-13.

The Lakers will look to bounce back this weekend. GVSU will stay at home and take on Northwood on Friday night (Nov. 6) at 7:00 p.m. before celebrating Senior Day on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Lake Superior State.