GLIAC TOURNAMENT
Having qualified for the GLIAC Volleyball Tournament for the fourth straight season, eighth-seeded Wayne State will travel to top-seed Ferris State for a quarterfinal match Thursday night in Big Rapids.

The Warriors (14-13, 10-9 GLIAC) finished the regular season in third place in the GLIAC South Division.  The Bulldogs (24-2, 18-1 GLIAC) are the North Division champions and earned the top seed based on their head-to-head tiebreaker with South Division champion Hillsdale.

Thursday will be the second postseason meeting in as many years between the schools, as Ferris State ousted Wayne State from the 2010 tournament last November in Detroit.


AT THE HELM
Phil Nickel is in his fourth season as Wayne State's head volleyball coach and has a record of 65-46.  In his six-year career, which includes two seasons at Thomas More College, Nickel is 99-89.

Tia Brandel-Wilhelm is in her 16th year at Ferris State with a 330-162 record, and in 19 seasons – which includes three at West Virginia Wesleyan – has a 448-182 career mark.


SERIES HISTORY
In the 2010 regular season Wayne State earned a five-set victory over Ferris State, its first win against the Bulldogs since 1998.  FSU avenged the loss, however, by eliminating the Warriors from the 2010 GLIAC Tournament.  Ferris State also defeated Wayne State, 3-0, earlier this season on Sept. 25.  Wayne State's last win in Big Rapids was Oct. 4, 1997.


SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Bulldogs enter the tournament riding an eight-match winning streak.  They are 13-0 at home and have dropped just two sets all season at the Ewigleben Sports Arena.

Ferris State is led up front by junior Anne Sutton (.360, 264 kills), freshman Courtney Rehm (.341, 190 kills) and senior Ashley Hunter (348 kills, 3.87 per set).  FSU also boasts the conference leaders in assists per set (junior Samantha Fordyce; 11.32) and digs per set (senior Lisa Tobiczyk; 4.80).


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State qualified for the GLIAC Tournament by virtue of its wins over Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech over the weekend, as well as Findlay's loss to NMU on Saturday.  The Warriors also reached double-digit conference victories for the second straight year.

Junior setter Cydney Biessel averaged 10.27 assists per set last week and became the third WSU player in history to reach 3,000 career assists.  She had a double-double Friday at Northern Michigan, totaling 39 assists and 10 digs, and followed up with a  42-assist performance – her highest three-set total of the season – Saturday at Michigan Tech.  Biessel also reached a career-high with 1,020 assists this season.

Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Bulkiewicz, who had double-doubles in both matches over the weekend, has 14 this season and six in her last seven matches.  With 398 kills, she will likely surpass the 401-kill mark posted by Sarha Gosselin in 2008 and Katarzyna Sak last year, and finish with the most kills in a single season since Fawne Allossery (462) in 1997.

Junior libero Lindsey Graciak has 501 digs this season, the fifth player in program history to eclipse the 500-dig mark.  For her career, she moved into the top-10 all-time (1,031), passing Becky Wilson (1988-91; 1,022).


POSTSEASON HISTORY
Wayne State is playing in its fourth consecutive GLIAC Tournament, having qualified in every year of Nickel's tenure. The Warriors hosted their quarterfinal matches in 2008 and 2010. In total, WSU has qualified for the GLIAC Volleyball Tournament nine times, having made four straight trips from 1996-99 and another in 2005.

Prior to the 2010 quarterfinal, the last time Wayne State and Ferris State met in postseason play resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Bulldogs at the 1987 NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional in Big Rapids.