A well-balanced team will try to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.

The Ferris State vol­ley­ball team will turn to its five return­ing starters to help improve on a 16–13 record from a sea­son ago.

Four seniors return to lead a well-balanced team into the 2009 cam­paign. The team is com­prised of four seniors, juniors, sopho­mores and fresh­men respec­tively, along with three red­shirt fresh­men. The Bulldogs return 12 of 15 letter-winners from the 2008 sea­son. Head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm said the seniors, as well as young play­ers, have shown great leadership.

The Bulldogs fin­ished the 2008 sea­son with an 8–8 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and ranked fifth in the North Division. It marked the first time since 2000 that the team did not record at least 12 vic­to­ries in con­fer­ence play. However, Brandel-Wilhelm is opti­mistic for this season.

“The mem­bers of the team have been work­ing very hard since last December to make sure this is one of the best vol­ley­ball sea­sons our University has had,” said Brandel-Wilhelm.

Brandel-Wilhelm announced that senior Sarah Lark and junior Dana Ruttle are the co-captains for the 2009 season.

“Sarah and Dana were cho­sen as cap­tains for their abil­ity to har­ness our strong lead­er­ship on and off the court,” said Brandel-Wilhelm.

Among the return­ing starters are junior Arielle Goodson, who earned Second Team All-GLIAC hon­ors in 2008, and senior Kristy Gilchrist, who was an All-GLIAC hon­or­able men­tion in 2008. The other return­ing starters are seniors Katie Edwards and Sarah Lark, along with sopho­more Ashley Huntey. Edwards led the team in kills in 2008 with 274, while Goodson racked up a team high 92 blocks.

Senior Amanda Kettlewell and juniors Danielle Hamilton and Whitney Rupp are among the return­ing let­ter­win­ners, along with sopho­mores Lisa Tobiczyk and Karen Thompson.

The key losses from last year’s team include Andrea Rich, a First Team All-GLIAC out­side hit­ter and Candice Marut, the 2008 FSU Most Valuable Player.
Coach Brandel-Wilhelm has a 269–138 record in her 13 sea­sons at Ferris and has won an impres­sive 71 per­cent of her games in her 16-year career. With 387 career vic­to­ries, she ranks in the top 25 among active Division II vol­ley­ball coaches.

The Bulldogs begin their 2009 sea­son with a home con­test against St. Joseph’s (Ind.) on Aug. 27 at 7:00 p.m.

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