Five GLIAC Teams Earn Bids to the NCAA D-II Midwest Region Volleyball Tournament

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Allendale, Mich. -- After claiming the 2008 GLIAC Volleyball Championship on Sunday, Grand Valley State University was awarded the top seed and named the host site for the 2008 NCAA Division II Midwest Region Tournament.  The Lakers are one of five GLIAC teams that earned a bid the Division II's postseason play.

Joining GVSU will be GLIAC Tournament runner-up Saginaw Valley State University, which earned the No. 2 seed in the regional.  Northern Michigan University, a GLIAC Tournament semifinalist, will be the No. 5 seed, while Michigan Technological University grabbed the No. 7 seed.  Northwood University, the 2008 GLIAC South Division Champion, will be the No. 8 seed in the regional event.

The five GLIAC teams will be joined in the regional by three teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).  Lewis University (Ill.), which claimed the 2008 GLVC Tournament Championship, was awarded the No. 3 seed.  The University of Indianapolis will be the No. 4 seed, while Northern Kentucky University was awarded the No. 6 seed.

The Great Lakes Regional Tournament will be conducted Nov. 21-23 at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. Quarterfinal matches will begin on Friday, Nov. 21 with the following matchups:

Friday, Nov. 21
Midwest Region Quarterfinals

Match 1:
#3 Lewis (Ill.) vs. #6 Northern Kentucky - 12:00 p.m.
Match 2:
#2 Saginaw Valley State vs. #7 Michigan Tech - 2:30 p.m.
Match 3:
#4 Indianapolis vs. #5 Northern Michigan - 5:00 p.m.
Match 4:
#8 Northwood at #1 Grand Valley State - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 22
Midwest Region Semifinals

Match 5:
Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2 - 5:00 p.m.
Match 6:
Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner of Match #4 - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 23
Midwest Region Championship

Match 7:
Winner of Match #5 vs. Winner of Match #6 - 7:00 p.m.

-----GLIAC Volleyball Weekly Notes-----

Ferris State - Senior setter-outside hitters Candice Marut (Pinconning) and Andrea Rich (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay) concluded their respective careers ranking eighth and ninth respectively among Ferris State's all-time assists leaders. Marut finished with an eighth-place 2,077 career assists total in 108 matches while Rich's 2,016 career helpers in 83 contests is ninth best on the Bulldog charts... Andrea Rich established career season highs this campaign in kills (165), service aces (40), digs (315), total blocks (62), block solos (seven), and block assists (55). The FSU co-captain also finished 22nd in digs on the Bulldogs' career leaders list with 775 total while her 96 service aces ranks 28th on the charts... Junior outside hitter Kristy Gilchrist's (Macomb/Anchor Bay) 789 career kills in 89 contests to date presently ranks 19th on Ferris State's career leaders chart. Gilchrist, who compiled a team third-best 233 kills total in 29 matches this fall, is 135 kills away from tying Lori Blair (1987-90; 924 total kills) for 18th-place honors. Gilchrist registered double-figure kills in a match on 10 occasions this season... FSU's top two service aces leaders this season, Andrea Rich and redshirt freshman libero Lisa Tobiczyk (Marysville), accounted for 38.3% (74-193) of the squad's output. Rich served up a team-leading 40 aces in 29 contests while Tobiczyk produced 34 services aces in 29 matches... Sophomore defensive specialist Dana Ruttle's (Reed City) team fourth-place 164 digs in 28 matches this season were 151 more than she compiled in 16 2007 encounters. Ruttle accumulated nine double-figure dig match totals this campaign, which included a career-high 15 at Ashland (10/10)... Sophomore middle hitter Arielle Goodson (Grand Rapids/Central) set career season highs in kills (262), digs (26), and total blocks (92) in 29 matches this campaign. She paced the squad in total blocks while finishing second for top team honors in kills and hitting percentage (.201) in 29 outings.

Grand Valley State - The Lakers won their second consecutive and fifth overall GLIAC Championship in program history on Sunday, defeating Saginaw Valley State, 3-1. It was the third time this season that Grand Valley State has knocked off the Cardinals. GVSU head coach Deanne Scanlon, recently named GLIAC Coach of the Year for the third time, is 25-3 against SVSU in her career...Grand Valley State will host the 2008 Great Lakes Regional Tournament on Nov. 21-23. The Lakers have won a school-record 33 consecutive home matches. GVSU is 12-0 at home this season...senior middle blocker Danielle Alexander (Newport, Mich./Airport) was named as the league's Player of the Year on Saturday, marking the first time a Laker has won the award since 2003. Alexander is the fifth winner of the player of the year award in program history. It is just the third time in GVSU history that the Lakers have had the GLIAC Player and Coach of the year in the same season...Alexander was named to the All-GLIAC Tournament Team after the weekend's matches. Joining her on the six-player team were teammates Jamie Ashmore (LaPorte, Ind.) and junior Whitney Tremain (Kentwood, Mich./Michigan State). Ashmore, a senior setter, was named the tournament's most valuable player for the second straight year...in the three tournament victories for the Lakers, Ashmore totaled 119 assists, 30 digs, and added eight kills, seven blocks, and five service aces. Alexander hit .389 for the weekend with 44 kills and 19 total blocks, while Tremain added 27 kills and 12 blocks.

Hillsdale - The 2008 Hillsdale College volleyball season ended with a 19-11 record for the Chargers, after losing to Wayne State in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament Tuesday night...Hillsdale has won 19 or more matches five years in a row...This is the first season since 2003 Hillsdale has not qualified for the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals, or the NCAA Regional Tournament...Senior Stephanie Booms finished her career with 4,640 career assists, number one on the school's career list...She is also seventh on the school's career total blocks list and eighth on the school's career digs list...Booms was also named First-Team All-GLIAC for a third time...Freshman outside hitter Ashlee Crowder was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, the first Charger to win that award since Taryn Rudland in 2003...Crowder set a school record for kills by a freshman with 333...Crowder and sophomore Sydney Dow were each named Second-Team All-GLIAC...Dow led the GLIAC in total digs with 489...Junior Emily Bennett led the GLIAC in hitting percentage with a .367 mark, and was named honorable mention All-GLIAC.

Michigan Tech - The Michigan Tech Huskies were one of 64 teams selected for the 2008 NCAA Div. II Volleyball Tournament today (Nov. 16). Tech (19-10) is the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region and will face the No. 2 seed Saginaw Valley State in Allendale, Mich., Friday (Nov. 21). The Huskies are 1-2 against the Cardinals this season... This will be the seventh time that the Huskies have qualified for the tournament and the first time since 2006. Tech also qualified for the NCAA Tournament five straight times from 1993 to 1997... If the Huskies win they will face the winner of the match between No. 3 Lewis and No. 6 Northern Kentucky.

Northern Michigan - The Northern Michigan University volleyball team advances to the NCAA II Midwest Regional for the first time since the 2004 season when the Wildcats won the region and advanced to the Elite Eight...The Wildcats face the University of Indianapolis in its first match as the two teams have met twice this season. UIndy won the first match at the Flyer Festival in early September (2-3) then the ‘Cats turned the table on the Greyhounds at the GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament and won (3-0)...Caryn VanBeckum is the lone member of this year's team who was on the team in 2004...The last time the Greyhounds and Wildcats met Mandie Meyer had 11 kills while Emma Wolfe had 10...In the first match at Lewis the ‘Cats were led by Daniela Bezerra (13), Meyer (13) and VanBeckum (12)...Three of Northern's top three hitters have over 300 kills on the season, Meyer leads the way with 390 kills, next are VanBeckum (311) and Bezerra (307)...VanBeckum leads the ‘Cats at the net with a team-high 41 block solos and 89 total blocks...Emma Wolfe has 62 block assists to lead the ‘Cats...Cassie Osiecki leads the team with 43 service aces and 474 digs.

Northwood - The Northwood University volleyball team earned a bid to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament Sunday night (Nov. 16)... The Timberwolves (16-13) earned the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. Northwood will take on the top-seeded Grand Valley State Lakers in the opening round... GVSU will also serve as the host for the event... Northwood entered the final weekend ranked ninth in the region, trailing No. 8 Ferris State for the final position in the field. Both NU and FSU lost in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament, but Northwood's strength of schedule improved a great deal over the weekend thanks to results from around the region. Southern Indiana reached the finals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, while Saginaw Valley State reached the finals of the GLIAC Tournament. The Timberwolves earned victories over both teams in the regular season... The Timberwolves will face the Lakers Friday (November 21) at a time to be determined. The winner of that match will face either fourth-seeded Indianapolis or No. 5 seed Northern Michigan in the second round... The GLIAC earned five of the eight bids from the region: No. 1 Grand Valley State, No. 2 Saginaw Valley State, No. 5 Northern Michigan, No. 7 Michigan Tech and No. 8 Northwood.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University went 2-1 this week in the GLIAC Tournament. First in the quarterfinals on November 12 by knocking off Michigan Tech in three games, 25-13, 25-18, 25-23 with senior outside hitter Sarah Redoute (Clinton Township, Mich.) getting 13 kills, and junior outside hitter Allison Schlinkert (Marysville, Mich.) contributed 11 kills. Senior defensive specialist Carmen Schacher had a match-high 20 digs during the contest. Next up, the Cardinals defeated Northern Michigan in three games, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19, with Redoute contributing 13 more kills and 11 digs for a double-double, and Schacher chipped in 20 digs. Junior setter Kait Harris also had a double-double in the contest with 24 assists and 11 digs. On November 16, the Cardinals lost in the GLIAC Finals to Grand Valley State in four games, 25-20, 25-18, 15-25, 25-14. The Cardinals now move on to their first ever berth into the NCAA Div. II Regional Tournament as the #2 seed and will face Michigan Tech November 21 on the campus of Grand Valley State University. The Cardinals are 2-1 against the Huskies this season.

Wayne State - Wayne State advanced past the first round of the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 1997 with a 3-1 win over Hillsdale in Wednesday's GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal, but had its postseason come to an end Saturday following a 3-1 loss at Grand Valley State ... the Warriors finished with 17 wins on the season, the most since the 1998 squad went 21-13 ... Sarha Gosselin (Harrison Twp., Mich./Warren Lincoln), who led WSU with 37 kills in the tournament, posted double-doubles in both matches including a 20-kill, 13 dig performance Wednesday ... she was named to the All-GLIAC First Team as well as the All-Tournament Team ... Mayssa Bazzi (Dearborn, Mich.), who earned Second Team honors for the second straight year, became the second Warrior (Sei Hee Hwang - 2004) named Libero of the Year ... Bazzi finished with 465 digs, eighth-most in school history, while her 4.27 average ranks third in the conference and tied for fifth all-time at WSU ... Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay), the top blocker in the nation with a 1.51 average, joined Bazzi on the Second Team ... Kim Gear (Benton Harbor, Mich./Watervliet), who earned Honorable Mention accolades for the second straight season, totaled 235 kills and led WSU with a .282 hitting percentage in 2008.