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The Grand Valley State volleyball team hosts its West Michigan rival Ferris State on Tuesday night (Sept. 27) in an early-season showdown in Allendale. GVSU will take on the Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. inside the Fieldhouse Arena in a key matchup for the North Division rivals.
 
Both teams enter Tuesday's match with 2-1 GLIAC records; the Lakers have a slightly higher winning percentage with a 7-4 overall record, while FSU is 8-5 on the year. Grand Valley State has won its last two contests and six of its last seven matches overall, including a 3-0 sweep of Walsh in the home opener on Saturday (Sept. 24).
 
GVSU hit a season-high .312 and owned a 7-1 edge in service aces in the sweep of Walsh on Saturday, which was the first home match after 10 consecutive road or neutral site contests to start the year. Sophomores Brooke Smith (nine kills, six digs) and Staci Brower (seven kills, two blocks) paired with freshmen Jayci Suseland (11 kills, .526) and Kendall Yerkes (14 digs, eight kills) to lead the way against the Cavaliers.
 
After a tough 1-3 start to the season - with all three losses coming to top-25 opponents - Grand Valley State has went 6-1 since that opening tournament. Four of those six victories are 3-0 sweeps in GVSU's favor.
 
Brower ranks second in the GLIAC in blocks per set (1.14) and solo rejections (14), while placing third in total blocks (48) and seventh in block assists (34). Her .342 hitting percentage is fifth-best in the league, while her 3.80 points per set is seventh-best. Suseland ranks second on the squad with 108 kills and 19 total blocks and is hitting .244 during her true freshman campaign.
 
Two Laker outside hitters are the team leaders in digs and among the tops in kills. Yerkes holds the GVSU lead with 143 digs and is third with 98 kills, not to mention 14 total blocks, the fifth-most on the team. Smith ranks second on the Lakers with 140 digs and is fourth with 80 kills.
 
Junior Katie Olson, the team's starting setter, has posted 354 total assists and 8.43 per set, while picking up 106 digs (2.52 digs per set). Freshman Sydney Benchley is tied with Olson with 106 digs, while senior Amanda Glaza has totaled 90 digs (fourth-most) and is the Laker leader with 13 service aces.
 
GVSU leads the all-time series with Ferris State 68-49. Since the 2005 season - when the Lakers won the Division II National Championship - Grand Valley State has captured victories in 18 of the last 28 meetings with Ferris State.
 
Recent history suggests that Tuesday's meeting will be a tight and lengthy contest. Since 2012, the Lakers and Bulldogs have played 12 times, while eight of those 12 matches have went longer than three sets. Five times in the past four years, the West Michigan rivals have played the maximum five sets.
 
A large crowd is expected, as is the norm when these two opponents face off. Ferris State has been the Lakers' opponent in 11 of the top-25 home attendances in GVSU Fieldhouse Arena history. Grand Valley State is 9-1 against Ferris State in those 11 meetings.
 
At 8-5 overall, the Bulldogs have won four straight matches after suffering a 3-1 defeat at Northwood on Sept. 16. Ferris State has defeated Hillsdale, Walsh, Olivet Nazarene, and Davenport over the past eight days to form a winning streak heading into Tuesday's matchup. The Bulldogs had started out the year with a 1-3 mark at the Ferris State Invitational. Similar to the Lakers tough start, FSU dropped three contests that weekend to nationally ranked opponents.
 
As a team, Ferris State ranks first in the GLIAC in solo blocks (33), is second in total blocks (97), and third in blocks per set (2.06). The Bulldogs are also third in digs (793), fifth in kills (610), and fifth in assists (566). FSU ranks eighth in the league in both service aces (56), as well as service errors (74).
 
Freshman outside hitter Allyson Cappel leads the team with 141 kills and ranks third in both digs (136) and total blocks (27). Another outside hitter - sophomore Katie Placek - is second on the Bulldogs with 108 kills, while leading FSU with 177 digs. Senior setter Stephanie Sikorski is posting 10.64 assists per set and has picked up 100 digs to go with 13 total blocks.
 
The match will be broadcast live on Xfinity900 and will be also aired through the GVSU Lakers YouTube page.

After Tuesday night's match, the Lakers go back on the road to Ohio this weekend. GVSU will face Ohio Dominican at 7:00 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 30) before taking on Lake Erie at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 1).