at #20 Ferris State (Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.): Live Stats
 
Grand Valley State opens a three-match road trip this week against West Michigan rival Ferris State on Tuesday night (Nov. 1) in Big Rapids. The Lakers and #20 Bulldogs match up at 7:00 p.m. in a key GLIAC contest for both schools, with just two weeks of the regular season remaining.
 
Sitting in a four-way tie for fifth place in the GLIAC standings, GVSU is 13-10 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Lakers are knotted up with Ashland, Lake Erie, and Michigan Tech for spots five through eight in the conference standings. Ferris State has rattled off 16 consecutive victories and the Bulldogs are 20-5 overall, 11-1 in GLIAC action.
 
GVSU has alternated wins and losses over its last eight matches, going 4-4 in that time and having not won or lost two in a row since defeating Tiffin and Ashland in back-to-back matches on Oct. 7-8. The Lakers are 4-3 in true road matches this season and overall 9-8 away from home.
 
The West Michigan rivals played an extremely competitive four-set contest in Allendale on Sept. 27, as Ferris State earned a tough 3-1 victory over the Lakers. In a match that was tied 24 times, FSU won a tight first set 26-24 before Grand Valley State bounced back with a 25-21 in the second stanza. The Bulldogs closed the match with consecutive set victories of 25-20 and 25-18 for the road win.
 
Showing how close the teams were, both schools had the same number of kills (59), attack errors (23), and digs (97) in the season's first matchup, with the Lakers hitting slightly better (.191 to .189) and owning an 11-9 edge in total blocks. Ferris State posted a 5-0 edge in service aces.
 
The Lakers are coming off a split home weekend, with GVSU winning (Northern Michigan last Friday) and losing (Michigan Tech last Saturday) a 3-1 decision in the Fieldhouse Arena. Grand Valley State posted its top two blocking efforts of the year with 16 total rejections in the win over NMU before notching 14 blocks versus Michigan Tech. In GLIAC matches, the Lakers are second with 2.30 blocks per set, not to mention the team's league-leading averages in kills (13.62) and assists (12.94) per set.
 
In last weekend's home split, GVSU put up an outstanding 3.75 blocks per set, led by sophomores Staci Brower (16 total blocks) and Jillian Butsavich (13 total rejections). Freshman Jayci Suseland (nine blocks) and junior Sydney Doby (eight blocks) were also big for the Lakers at the net.
 
When Grand Valley State and FSU faced off in September, Suseland led all players with 17 kills and six blocks, while Brower put down 13 kills and added seven rejections. Five Lakers reached double-digits in digs, paced by senior Amanda Glaza's 23 digs and sophomore Brooke Smith's 19 digs and eight kills. However, it was the only match all season in which the Lakers did not record a service ace.
 
Ferris State dropped its GLIAC opener on Sept. 16 in a 3-1 loss at Northwood and the Bulldogs have not lost since. In the team's 16 consecutive victories, eight of FSU's wins have been 3-0 sweeps, yet the team has also prevailed in three 3-2 matches (Sept. 30 at Lake Erie, Oct. 15 vs. Lewis, Oct. 22 at Wayne State).
 
The Bulldogs are 6-3 at home this season, including five straight home victories. The team's lone losses in its home gym are against national powers Cal State San Bernardino, Minnesota Duluth, and Winona State on the season's opening weekend (Sept. 2-3). Most recently, Ferris State won both home contests last weekend over Michigan Tech (3-1) and Northern Michigan (3-0).
 
While ranking second in the league in digs per set (17.72), third in blocks per set (2.05), and sixth in kills per set (12.89), the Bulldogs also do not beat themselves. FSU commis the third-fewest attack errors, the fifth-fewest reception errors (and the fewest in GLIAC-only matches), and the fourth and fifth-fewest blocking and ball-handling errors, respectively.
 
Freshman outside hitter Allyson Cappel is the team leader with 303 kills and ranks third on FSU with 289 digs. She is tied for second with 49 total blocks. Junior Ayanna Buckley is tied with Cappel with 49 blocks and is second on the team with 237 kills. Middle hitter Maria Kronner (team-high 80 blocks) and sophomore Katie Placek (second with 354 digs and 24 aces) are tied with 212 kills apiece.
 
After Tuesday's rivalry match, the Lakers stay on the road to take on Saginaw Valley State on Friday night (Nov. 4) and Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 5).