Grand Rapids Reporter

Ferris State University's women's volleyball team has progressed to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals, marking their 11th appearance in the last 12 seasons. The Bulldogs secured a narrow victory against Hillsdale College with a 3-2 win on Thursday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri.

The match saw Ferris State triumph in the fifth set with a score of 15-12. As the second seed, they will face sixth-seeded Rockhurst University on Friday night at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

In Thursday's regional quarterfinals, Ferris State claimed a tight first set victory at 26-24. Hillsdale responded by winning the second set 25-17. The Bulldogs took the third set 25-23 before Hillsdale forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-18 win in the fourth.

With this victory, Ferris State improved their season record to 26 wins and seven losses, while Hillsdale concluded their season with a similar record of 27 wins and seven losses.

Olivia Henneman-Dallape led Ferris State with an impressive match-high of 25 kills. Syann Fairfield contributed 12 kills and Claire Nowicki added another 11 for the Bulldogs. Junior setter Kaylee Maat provided significant support with 57 assists out of the team's total of 63.

Defensively, Leah Bylut made notable contributions by achieving a career-high and school single-match record of 42 digs. Nowicki also recorded 22 digs, Maat had 16, Emma Bleecher tallied 14, and Kenzy Corstange added another dozen digs for Ferris State.

The Bulldogs accumulated six team blocks during the match, aided by four block assists from Nowicki and three from Chelsie Freeman. Both Nowicki and Bleecher also delivered two service aces each as part of Ferris State's total of six aces.

Overall, Ferris State registered a hitting percentage of .155 with their offensive efforts yielding 66 kills against 32 attack errors over 220 attempts. They amassed an impressive total of 118 digs during the match.

Hillsdale posted a slightly higher hitting percentage at .186 with their own tally of kills standing at 63 against only eight aces and seven blocks throughout their performance.

Marilyn Popplewell led Hillsdale with her contribution of twenty kills while Alli Wiese achieved thirty-eight digs and Lauren Passaglia offered fifty-two assists to her team’s efforts.

The victor from Friday evening's semifinal will advance to compete in Saturday's regional championship scheduled for an evening start time at eight o'clock Eastern Time.