Grand Valley State and Ferris State played a tight four-set contest on Tuesday night (Sept. 27) in Allendale with the Bulldogs prevailing with the 3-1 victory. The match was tied 24 times and the teams ended up with identical kill and dig totals, but the Lakers were unable to hold off FSU, 24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 18-25. 

With the loss, GVSU drops to 7-5 on the season and 2-2 in GLIAC play. Ferris State improves to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in conference action. The one-hour, 56-minute match saw 24 ties and eight lead changes in front of a crowd of 573 inside the Fieldhouse Arena.

The statlines at the end of the contest were remarkably similar. Both Grand Valley State and FSU put away 59 kills and each team committed 23 attack errors. The Bulldogs tallied two more total attacks, thus GVSU ended with a slightly higher hitting percentage (.191) than Ferris State (.189). Each team recorded exactly 97 digs in the contest.

While the Lakers held an 11-9 edge in total blocks, the Bulldogs owned a 5-0 edge in service aces. GVSU finished with a 58-54 advantage in assists.

Freshman Jayci Suseland led all players with 17 kills, while adding six total blocks (two solo). Suseland put down seven kills in 10 attempts in the second set alone. Sophomore Staci Brower added 13 kills and a match-high seven total rejections.

Five Lakers posted double-digits in digs, led by senior Amanda Glaza's team-best 23 pickups. Sophomore Brooke Smith recorded 19 digs, eight kills, three assists, and two block assists. Freshman Kendall Yerkes picked up 13 digs and supplied seven kills.

Both Laker setters notched a double-double, as junior Katie Olson dished out 40 assists and notched 11 digs, while sophomore Taylor Stewart notched 15 digs, 10 assists, and a pair of kills.

GVSU owned a 14-13 lead in set one after a Brower kill, but Ferris State scored the next four points to open a 17-14 advantage. The FSU lead grew to 23-20 and eventually 24-21 before Smith and Stewart each totaled a kill, with each player tallying the assist on the other's kill. A Bulldog error was sandwiched between those kills to tie the set at 24-24. After a Ferris State timeout, the Bullogs put down back-to-back kills to take the first frame 26-24 despite GVSU hitting .350 (17 kills, three errors) in the stanza.

Trailing 11-8 in set two, Suseland posted two kills around a kill from junior Sydney Doby to tie the score at 11-11. Another Suseland kill tied the score at 12-12 and started a 5-0 Laker run. Suseland, Smith, and Brower provided kills during the surge to push the lead out to 16-12, however Ferris State rallied to tie the score at points 17, 18, and 19. Sophomore Shannon Winicki delivered two of her seven kills on consecutive points and Doby added another to put the Lakers in front 22-19. Another Winicki kill, a Bulldog error, and a Suseland kill ended the set at 25-21. The Laker offense hit .347 with 20 kills and just three errors during the frame.

FSU opened up a 9-3 cushion in set three and kept the lead at 15-9 before the Lakers began to rally. Suseland put down two kills and combined with Brower on a pair of blocks, bringing GVSU within a point at 16-15. Brower and Yerkes notched back-to-back kills to tie the score at 17-17, but the Bulldogs closed the frame on an 8-3 run that included seven kills during that final surge.

Set four saw the Lakers score the first three points before Ferris State answered with an 8-1 run to take control. Despite the deficit, GVSU chipped away and used back-to-back-to-back combined blocks (all of which included Brower; she teamed with Smith on two rejections and Suseland on the other) to take a 15-14 lead. Brower followed with a kill and a 16-14 advantage, but from there Ferris State used a match-ending 11-2 run to win the fourth set, 25-18.

The Lakers head back on the road to Ohio this weekend for a pair of matches. Grand Valley State faces Ohio Dominican on Friday night (Sept. 30) before taking on Lake Erie on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 1).