Findlay Bows Out of GLIAC Tournament
The University of Findlay volleyball team dropped Saturday's (Nov. 15) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament semifinal match vs. the 18th-ranked team in the country and GLIAC regular season co-champions, the Ferris State Bulldogs. The 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-14) final ends the Oilers 12-match win streak, leaving GLIAC Coach of the Year, Wick Colchagoff's team with a 23-7 record on the season.
On a day where Findlay collected some serious conference hardware, there was little else to celebrate as the third-seeded Oilers held the lead just three times in the match. A turning point took place in the first set when Ferris State trailed Findlay 11-10 but proceeded to rattle off five straight points, a momentum swing that seemed to carry through the remainder of the match.
Leading the offense for the Oilers was red-shirt freshman Nickyla Garverick who smashed six kills in the match. Garverick, who was dubbed GLIAC Freshman of the Year and Blocker of the Year, also had a block. Also finishing with six kills and a block was freshman Erika Roach.
The Bulldogs did a good job of harnessing the power of the GLIAC's Attacker of the Year, sophomore Hannah Tong, as they held the outside hitter to just five kills on 25 attacks.
Junior Julie Lyons and sophomore Andrea Roach rounded out the offense as they each picked up four kills apiece. Roach's efforts this season earned honorable mention all-league status.
GLIAC second team performer, senior Amanda Calhoun, picked up 21 assists and 11 digs in the loss while junior Becca Shoemaker collected 13 digs.
The Oilers will now wait to see if they qualify as an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament. The selection show will be tomorrow at 10 p.m.