BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The #1 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (2-1) took their first loss of the 2018 season as they were swept (13-25, 19-25, 22-25) by #21 Ferris State (3-0) on Friday night in the Ferris State Volleyball Classic.
The Golden Bears saw their eight-match winning streak snapped as they fell to 0-2 in the all-time series against the Bulldogs. In addition, the sweep was just the second such defeat for Concordia since the 2015 season.
Mistakes cost CSP on the night as the Golden Bears finished with 27 hitting errors and eight service errors while Ferris State had just eight hitting errors and five service errors. The result was a big .276-.076 hitting percentage in favor of Ferris State in the match. Despite dropping all three sets, Concordia actually finished with a 36-35 edge in kills and nearly matched FSU in digs with a final margin of 53-50.
Brooklyn Lewis led the team with 10 kills while
Sara Macek followed with seven.
Sydney Book added six kills and three blocks while
Erin Fallert and
Hope Schiller each added five kills.
Fallert paced the Golden Bears with 15 digs while
Tori Hanson also hit double figures with 12.
Taylor Soine chipped in nine digs while
Elizabeth Mohr added eight digs with her 30 assists.
Allyson Cappel put up a match-best 12 kills to go along with 10 digs while Katie O'Connell fell a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs.
The Bulldogs set the tone for the opening set from the start as they picked up four of the first five points to take the lead for good. A massive 12-2 run quickly turned a slight 7-4 edge into a double digit lead at 19-6 for Ferris State. The FSU lead did not shrink below 10 the rest of the set as Golden Bears saw the Bulldogs claim a comfortable 25-13 set win to jump ahead 1-0 in the match.
The second set began much of the same way with the first four points going in favor of Ferris State. Concordia pulled within two at 7-5 before a 5-0 burst pushed the lead out to seven at 12-5 for the Bulldogs. The two teams went back and forth until a 4-0 run cut the gap to three at 21-18, but the Bulldogs answered back with four of the next five points to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 set win in the second.
CSP looked to slow down the Bulldogs in the third set as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Ferris State responded with eight of the next 10 points to take a lead of their own. The Golden Bears trimmed the deficit to 9-8, but five in a row for FSU seemed to put it out of reach. Concordia clawed their way back into the set as they closed the gap to one at 19-18 following a 7-2 burst, but they were unable to get over the hump to even it up or take the lead. CSP remained within one at 23-22 before the Bulldogs finished it out with the final two points to finish off the sweep by taking the third set 25-22.
The Golden Bears wrap up action at the Ferris State Volleyball Classic tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. against Rollins College.
