#5 Ferris State handed #2 Wayne State its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon in the semi-finals of the Colorado Premier Challenge in Denver as the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 at the Regis University Fieldhouse. Ferris State stays unbeaten at 7-0 while WSC is now 6-1 on the year.
WSC trailed most of the opening set, but rallied to take a short-lived lead until the Bulldogs scored the final four points of the set for a 25-21 victory.
Ferris State jumped out to early leads of 10-6 and 14-9, but WSC rallied and took their first lead of the set at 18-17 on a
Delaney Miller kill. The 'Cats also led at 19-18 and again at 20-19 on kills from
Mia Berg and Miller.
But with the score tied at 21-21, the Bulldogs scored the final four points of the set for the 25-21 win.
Berg had five kills with Miller adding three in the opening set for WSC while
Anna Borner had eight digs.
The second set saw Ferris State build a 21-9 lead and finish with a 25-18 set win thanks to 18 kills by the Bulldogs.
Channatee Robles had five kills to pace WSC in the set with
Chloe Hanel adding four.
The third set was a close battle throughout with eight ties and four lead changes. Ferris State led much of the set with WSC rallying to take the lead late until the Bulldogs scored the final four points of the set to complete the sweep with a 25-23 win.
WSC trailed 19-17, but used a kill from Hanel and an FSU attack error to tie the score at 19-19. Back-to-back kills from Miller gave the 'Cats their first lead since 3-2 early in the set for a 21-20 lead. Another Bulldog attack error put the 'Cats in front 22-20 and an FSU service error gave WSC a 23-21 lead. But four straight points from Ferris State to close out the set gave the Bulldogs a 25-23 set win to complete the win.
Ferris State held a .297 to .230 advantage in hitting over the Wildcats and 51-41 in kills. Both teams had 13 attack errors. The Bulldogs had two more blocks than WSC – 6-4 – and recorded a 59-57 edge in digs and 4-2 in service aces.
Robles led WSC in kills with 11 followed by Miller and Hanel with nine apiece. Borner had a team-high 15 digs with
Mattie Kamery adding 11 and
Reese Johnson 10 while
Mia Berg had three blocks. Kamery had both service aces for the Wildcats.
Wayne State will battle Lewis (Ill.), who is 5-2, at 5:30 p.m. Central Time in the third-place match of the Colorado Premier Challenge.
