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September 3, 2008

Ferris State's Rich and Wayne State's Mallast Named GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division Players of the Week, Respectively

Bay City, Mich. -- Ferris State University senior outside hitter/setter Andrea Rich and Wayne State University junior middle blocker Lauren Mallast have been selected as the GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division Players of the Week, respectively.

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North Division Player of the Week:
Andrea Rich - Ferris State
(SR, OH/S, New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay)

Senior outside hitter/setter Andrea Rich was named to the 2008 Ferris State Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend after leading the Bulldogs to a 4-1 mark to start the year. She recorded a triple double-double against nationally eighth-ranked Minnesota Duluth (8/30) with 11 kills, 25 asssists, and 10 digs. Rich also produced a career-high tying five service aces in a 3-1 win over Indiana, Pa. (8/29). The 2007 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selection has registered 496 career digs and currently ranks 11th among Ferris State's all-time assists leaders with a 1,489 career total.

North Division Weekly Honor Roll:
Danielle Alexander -GV, Jen Jung - MT.

South Division Player of the Week:
Lauren Mallast - Wayne State
(JR, MB, Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay)

Lauren Mallast paced the Wayne State offense last weekend at the Cal State Monterey Bay Otter Classic, totaling 50 kills and a .446 attack percentage in the four matches. She also led the squad with 23 blocks, including seven solo, and contributed nine digs as well as a .961 serve percentage with two aces. On Saturday, Mallast collected 27 kills with only four errors in a pair of WSU victories, as the Warriors went 3-1 overall in the tournament.

South Division Weekly Honor Roll:
Maria Santos -AU, Jessie VonIns - UF, Clara Leutheuser - HC, Brooke Bernabei - TU.

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

 Ashland - The 21st ranked Ashland University's volleyball team struggled in their first matches of the season on Friday (August 29). AU matched up first against Saint Leo losing the contest, 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-20, 26-24)... Ashland had no time to rest as they played Classic host Tampa later in the evening. Tampa came into the contest ranked seventh in the country. Tampa showed why they were ranked where they were defeating the Eagles, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-15)... A day of thinking and making adjustments and Ashland University volleyball coach Connie Surowicz makes the necessary changes to earn victories. Such was the case on Saturday, as Surowicz shortened her rotation and made the right adjustments to pull off an upset and earn a second win on top of that. The Eagles played their first match against ninth-ranked Florida Southern on Saturday (August 30). The highly contested match ended with the Eagles pulling out a 5 set thriller, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13)... Ashland finished up the Tampa Classic by playing Central Oklahoma. AU played another tightly contested match, but was able to pull away and win, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22)... The two victories gave Ashland a 2-2 record after what could have been a terrible weekend after an 0-2 start. The Eagles will head to Alaska next week to compete in the Alaska Fairbanks Classic. The Classic starts Friday (Sept. 5) and runs through Saturday... The Eagles are ranked 23rd in the most recent CBS College Sports Network/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Coaches poll.

Ferris State - Senior setter-outside hitter Andrea Rich (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay), junior middle hitter Sarah Lark (Alma), and junior outside hitter Katie Edwards (Cedar Springs) were named to the 12-member 2008 Ferris State Invitational All-Tournament Team... Katie Edwards posted double-figure kills in four of her first five matches this season, which includes the last four to date. Edwards, who compiled a season-best 15 kills versus Indiana, Pa. (8/29), is averaging 12.3 kills per match (49 total) in her last four appearances... Andrea Rich has registered 496 career digs and is four shy of recording her 500th to date. The 2007 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selection also currently ranks 11th among Ferris State's all-time assists leaders with a 1,489 career total and is 63 away from tying Wendy McCann's (1984-87) 10th-place 1,552 career assists... Ferris State's .375 attack percentage in a 3-0 non-league triumph over Wheeling Jesuit (8/29) at the Ferris State Invitational represented the third-best attack percentage in the program's history. The Bulldogs generated 51 kills with 12 errors in 104 total attempts for the match. The school record is a .416 hitting percentage versus Fairmont State (8/24/01)... Andrea Rich's five service aces against Indiana, Pa. (8/29) matched a personal career single-match record, equaling her output against St. Joseph's, Ind. (8/24/06) and versus Midwestern State (9/2/06) at the Incarnate Word Alamo City Classic in San Antonio, Texas... The Bulldogs improved to 30-6 (.833) all-time in season-opening contests with a 3-0 home win over Aquinas last Thursday (8/28) in their 2008 season opener. Ferris State is also now 12-1 in season openers under current head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm.

Findlay - The University of Findlay volleyball team picked up their first win of the season on Friday, August 29 in Canyon, Texas after they defeated the University of New Mexico-Highlands 3-2 (18-25,25-23,25-14,27-29,15-12) at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic... Earlier in the day, UF fell to host #5 West Texas A & M, 3-0 (20-25, 14-25, 11-25)... On Saturday, Findlay defeated Fort Lewis, 3-2 (26-24, 16-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-13), and then fell to Abilene Christian, 3-1 (25-16, 16-25, 20-25, 26-28)... The University of Findlay volleyball team will be hosting the annual TownePlace Suites Classic on September 5-6, 2008 in Croy Gymnasium and the Koehler Fitness and Recreation Complex.

Grand Valley State - The #7 Lakers went 3-1 at the Missouri S&T "Middle of Everywhere" Classic in Rolla, Mo...GVSU picked up wins over Southern Indiana, North Alabama, and #17 Pittsburg State, while falling to #3 Truman State...Perhaps their most entertaining match of the weekend was the Lakers' 3-2 win over 2006 national runner-up North Alabama. GVSU won the match with a 15-13 win in the fifth set. The Lakers were 5-3 last season in five-set matches...Grand Valley State used strong serving all weekend, notching 21 service aces in four matches, compared to just six for its opponents...The Lakers also played well at the net, tallying five block solos and 57 block assists, while their opponents totaled seven block solos and just 26 block assists...Senior middle blocker Danielle Alexander (Newport, Mich./Airport) led GVSU with 49 kills, a .330 hitting percentage, 23 total blocks, and eight service aces over the weekend...Senior outside hitter Lauren Reber (Flint, Mich./Carman-Ainsworth) notched 44 kills, 50 digs, and 10 total blocks...In the third set of the season opener against Southern Indiana, Grand Valley State scored the set's first 15 points, with senior setter Jamie Ashmore serving 14 of the 15 points. GVSU won the set 25-14...The Lakers head out west this weekend to the Regis Premier Challenge in Denver, Colo., as they'll face Augustana and Metro State, among other teams yet to be determined.

Hillsdale - After winning three out of four matches in its season-opening tournament, the Hillsdale College volleyball team zoomed up seven spots in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 Volleyball Poll, released Monday evening... The Chargers moved from 18th to 11th in the poll, making them one of the biggest jumpers in the poll this week. Hillsdale has been ranked in the Division II Top 25 poll every week for the past two years, dating back to the second week of the 2006 season... The Chargers will play their first home match of the 2008 season Tuesday night against Lake Erie College, in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Lake Erie is a new arrival to Division II this year. The match begins at 7 p.m., and admission for everyone is free.

Michigan Tech - Michigan Tech posted a 3-1 record at the Comfort Inn & Suites/Firewater Grille Tournament hosted by Neb. Omaha over the weekend. The Huskies posted a school record 20.0 blocks in a 3-1 win over No. 11 Emporia State. The previous record was set against St. Cloud State on Aug. 25, 2006. Senior Jen Jung led the team with 52 kills and 26 blocks in Tech's four matches... The Huskies will take part in the Lewis Flyer Invitational this weekend (Sept. 5-6) in Romeoville, Ill.

Northern Michigan - The Wildcats split each day at the Nebraska-Omaha Invitational this past weekend, Friday Northern Michigan lost to MSU-Moorhead (2-3) and defeated Nebraska-Omaha (3-2) as Saturday was the same story as the ‘Cats split against Emporia State (2-3) and blanked UM-Crookston (3-0)...This week the ‘Cats are at the Flyer Festival at Lewis University...Newcomer Madeline Ogden had 184 assists on the weekend, she had a career-high 51 assists against UNO...Another newcomer, Daniela Bezerra, led the team in kills with 46 as she had a career-high 15 against UNO...Bezerra also had nine service aces for the weekend, six came against MSU-Moorhead...Katt Garvick led the ‘Cats in Omaha with 10 total blocks (three solo and seven assisted)...ON the defensive front, Cassie Osiecki had 53 digs while Bezerra chipped in with 52 for the weekend.

Northwood - The Northwood volleyball team opened its season by going 1-3 at the Florida Southern/Saint Leo Invitational ... NU opened the year by defeating St. Thomas before falling to No. 9 Florida Southern, Palm Beach Atlantic and Saint Leo ... senior outside hitter Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina) started strong for the Timberwolves, averaging 3.93 kills per game ... freshman Sara Skornia (Bay City, Mich./Central) led the team in blocks (0.80 per game) and attack percentage (.400) while averaging 1.8 kills per games ... NU held five point leads in games two and three against Florida Southern, but were unable to win either set ... the Timberwolves will travel to Denver, Colo. for three matches starting Friday (Sept. 5) against No. 6 West Texas A&M ... NU will also face No. 19 West Florida on the trip.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University started off the season this past weekend with four wins. The Cardinals played solid as a team as they defeated IUP, Urbana, Mercyhurst and Wheeling Jesuit at the Bulldog Invitational this past weekend. SVSU was lead by senior Sarah Redoute and freshman Katie Fitzgerald played very strong in the middle and outside. Redoute and Kait Harris were both named to the all tournament team. SVSU will travel to the Flyer Invitational hosted by Lewis University this weekend in Chicago.

Tiffin - Sophomore outside hitter Brooke Bernabei led Dragons to 3-1 week, hitting 18 kills in 5-game win over Notre Dame and 20 kills in win over Davis & Elkins. Had 3.5 blocks against both Holy Family and Notre Dame...averaged 3.75 kills per game and 2.81 digs per game while blocking 0.81 over 16 games.

Wayne State - Wayne State went 3-1 to open the season at the Otter Classic, hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay ... the Warriors defeated Merrimack and lost to Western Oregon on Friday before defeating Humboldt State and CSUMB on Saturday ... Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) paced the WSU offense, totaling 50 kills and a .446 attack percentage in the four matches ... she also led the squad with 23 blocks including seven solo ... Sarha Gosselin (Harrison Twp., Mich./Warren Lincoln) had a team-high 53 kills in the tournament ... Katy Westenberg (Milford, Mich.) averaged 10.14 assists/game and led WSU with eight service aces ... Mayssa Bazzi (Dearborn, Mich.) led the Warriors defensively with 56 digs ... Wayne State will participate in the TownePlace Suites Classic, hosted by the University of Findlay, this Friday and Saturday.