VOLLEYBALL: Great Win For Bulldogs To Start The Season Right

BIG RAPIDS - Ferris State University's volleyball team got the 2009-10 athletics season off to a great start with a 3-0 win over Ewigleben Sports Arena Thursday afternoon against a scrappy St. Joseph's (Ind.).

The Bulldogs did not necessarily bring their "A" game to the court, but head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm's squad earned a 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 win over the Pumas inside a hot, stuffy and packed Ewigleben Sports Arena jammed with 340 fans.

"We did some things well and we're happy for the win," Brandel-Wilhelm said. "We didn't really play our best volleyball, but it was nice to see us come out and compete in our first match to get ready for the season."

Thankfully, the season is a marathon and not a sprint. Look for some good things for the Bulldogs in future matches.

But, the future is down the line.

Thursday was our first glimpse at the present.

As expected, Ferris got the big performances from Kristy Gilchrist, who had 13 kills, and Arielle Goodson, who also had 13 kills. Both players had attack percentages of .333. Also, Ashley Huntey had five kills, Sarah Lark and Katie Edwards each had three kills and with two kills was setter Samantha Fordyce, who had a solid debut running the show.

Fordyce tallied 35 assists in the match.

With two service aces apiece were Edwards, Fordyce, Dana Ruttle and Lisa Tobicyzk.

As a team, the Bulldogs had .165 hitting percentage, but held the Pumas to an attack percentage of .141 in the opener.

Defensively, Tobiczyk had 15 digs and Huntey had 12 digs. Gilchrist had a solo block and two block assists while Lark had three block assists.

It's a solid win for the Bulldogs to get the season started in style with a win over a St. Joe team coached by a pair of former Ferris players in head coach Jill Schopieray and her assistant, Sarah Dehring.