The women’s basketball hopes of making the GLIAC tournament remain alive with two wins last week 69-66 over Lake Superior State on senior night; and 80-69 over Saginaw Valley State.

With games remaining, at Northwood and Wayne State, in the regular season the Lady Bulldogs are approaching them as a two big games. “It’s two big games, we’re looking at it like it’s a two tournament,” head coach Tracey Dorow said.

Dorow will be missing the next two games because of the arrival of her daughter. She was experiencing contractions for three days prior to Saturday, and labor was to be induced on Monday. “I’ll be missing these two games, but will be there for the [GLIAC] tournament,” Dorow said.

Assistant coach Crystal Harris, and Mark DeNoyelles will be taking over the helm for the games tomorrow and Saturday.

Both coaches and players are ready to tame the beast of the GLIAC north and make it into the tournament. They took the first step coming back against the Lake Superior State Lakers. It was senior day on Saturday, and it took a while for the Bulldogs to loosen up. They didn’t make a field goal for the first three minutes of the game. The defense kept the Bulldogs in it as they trailed 4-0 before forward/center Jenna Guay put the first points on the board.

The Lakers used their size advantage and ball movement to put together several runs in the first half, and led by as much as nine twice in the half before the Bulldogs came charging back.

A jumper by guard Teghan Thelen got the Bulldogs within two, 24-22, with 7:03 remaining. Forward/center Andrea Clancy got the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 29-28, with 5:13 remaining.

The remainder of the half became a game of tag, Ferris would take the lead, then Lake Superior State would tie it. The Lakers would take the lead, and the Bulldogs tied it. Both sides went into the locker room with 37 points, and were hungry for more.

The second half was close, and the Lakers hung around for a while, but it was finally the Bulldogs who broke loose.

“They’ve done a tremendous job continuing to press on when things weren’t going their way. They continue to believe in themselves, and stepped up at the end of the game and got it done,” Dorow said.

The second half remained close, but it was Thelen on the line with eight seconds left to put the game out of reach.

The Bulldogs did get it done and sent out the four seniors: center/forward Ashley Fleming, center/forward Caitlin Hutchison, Guay and Thelen, with wins.

The seniors were honored after the game with balloons and chants from previous teammates and current fans.

Thelen put up a team-high 21 points and added both five rebounds and five assists. Guay added 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Fleming closed out the home portion of her career with a double-double effort as she had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Hutchison added four points in the victory.

Sophomore guard Chelsea Simonetti’s husband is serving in Iraq, and a table was set up for fans to write messages of support during the game.

The Bulldogs were able to redeem themselves on Thursday night when they defeated the Saginaw Valley Cardinals by double digits.

“We have a much different mentality,” Dorow said comparing the Bulldogs to earlier this season when they got rocked by the Cardinals. “Self confidence is sky rocketing, and we are moving the ball well. We scored 81 points, and our highest scorer had 13,” Dorow said.

The Bulldogs dominated the Cardinals in every aspect of the game. They led by as much as 20 in the first half, and it didn’t look like the Cardinals would see 20 points at the break.

With 35 seconds remaining the Cardinals found themselves with 20 points, but the Bulldogs still led by 17, 37-20. The second half began with the Cardinals fighting and scrapping like their lives depended on it.

“We did good the first 20 to 25 minutes and let up. We were rotating and not in sync, and they shot the ball better,” Dorow said about the Cardinals crawling their way back into the game.

“Because we had a lead, Saginaw was more aggressive because they had to fight to get back in it.”

The Bulldogs were able to hold off the full court attack by the Cardinals, that left Fleming on the ground after an elbow to the eye. Fleming would not return for the remainder of the game, and returned to the bench with a large bandage on her eye. The Bulldogs were able to take advantage of their large lead and fought off the Cardinals for a much-needed victory.

The Bulldogs were led by Clancy with a team-high 13 points and six rebounds. Both Thelen and Simonetti added 10 points apiece.

The Bulldogs improved to 9-11 in the GLIAC and 11-13 overall. Destiny for the post season remains in their hands with a 6 p.m. game against Northwood tomorrow, and a 1 p.m. game on Saturday against Wayne State. “At this point we can beat anyone, our seeding doesn’t matter,” Dorow said.

The men’s basketball team split home games, losing to Lake Superior State 69-76 and winning against Saginaw Valley State 80-69.

The loss to Lake Superior State was a tough defeat with its intensity felt even in the crowd. The Bulldogs battled back from a 17-point deficit to come within one point of Lake Superior State with 5:02 remaining in the second half.

League high scorer, center/ forward Justin Keenan suffered a severe ankle sprain in the first eight minutes of the second half of last Thursday’s game against Saginaw Valley State; and was out for this game. Keenan is expected to have a full recovery by the GLIAC tournament.

“Not having Keenan play hurt. I was really proud of how hard the team played though. Coming back from a large deficit is never easy. It was nice to see Jason Holder score a season high in his last season home game. We needed them [the players[ to come together for the tournament,” said head coach Bill Sall.

Senior forward Jason Holder scored 16 points. He had five rebounds, two steals and a block.

“Proud of my teammates today, we came out battling, we came out hard and we worked together,” said Holder when asked how he felt about his last home game.

Other contributors to last Saturday’s game included junior guard Josh Young, who scored 15 points, had seven rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal and sophomore guard Darien Gay who had 14 points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Thursday’s game also started in a deficit. The Bulldogs were down ten points, and was able to battle back for the win.

Young scored 20 points, had six rebounds and three assists. Both Gay and forward Verdell Billingsley scored a total of eleven points. Gay also had nine assists, three rebounds and a steal. Billingsley contributed eight rebounds.

“During Thursday’s game we were down and came back. We held them scoreless for seven or eight minutes and I was happy with that. It was an overall really good effort,” said Sall.

The next two games will be on the road as the men’s basketball team faces Northwood on Thursday at 8p.m. and Wayne State on Saturday at 3p.m.

This will be the last two games before the GLIAC tournament. The Bulldogs with their overall record of 13-12, 11-9 GLIAC are fighting for one of the top four spots so they can have home court advantage in See Woman's BBall on Page 10 the tournament.

Women’s tennis dominated over Albion College last Friday in its first home match of the season. The women’s tennis team beat Albion 8-1, losing only at the first doubles spot.

The match improved the women’s tennis overall record to 8-7 this year and the tennis team remains 5-4 overall in the GLIAC. First singles, sophomore Amy Ingle went to three sets against Albion before defeating its first singles, Shelly Zamler 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 10-6.

Freshman third singles, Melissa Flowers defeated Cassie Simmelink 6-1, 6-1. The third doubles team of senior Ann Grant and senior Jennifer Prisner defeated the Albion doubles team of Sarah Towler and Tessa Morris 8-3.

The next women’s tennis match will be home against Calvin on March 3 at 2p.m.

Get pumped for your Bulldogs to take on the visiting Michigan Wolverines on Friday with the pregame tailgating party hosted by the Ferris State Alumni Association at the Ewigleben Ice Arena, Multi-purpose room. It begins at 5:30 with snacks and beverages.

The University of Alaska hockey team has had Ferris State’s number as the Nanooks have defeated the Bulldogs in 16 straight contests. Last weekend, the Bulldogs made the long journey to Fairbanks, Alaska where they played six strong periods of hockey but were only able to muster up one point.

The Olympic sized rink hosted the weekend contest inside the Carlson Center where the Nanooks came from behind on Friday night to score two third periods goals en route to the 2-1 victory. On Saturday night, regulation wasn’t enough time but the Nanooks’ game winning goal in overtime gave them the 3-2 victory and sweep.

"These were two tough losses to swollow because we had leads with under 10 minutes to play in both games and couldn't hold on," Ferris State head coach Bob Danials said. "We played well on the defensive and goaltender end but couldn't generate any offense.

Justin Menke scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Bulldogs the lead late in the first period of Friday night’s game. Menke’s even strength goal was credited with assists to defenseman Zach Redmond and center Brendan Connolly.

The Bulldogs and Nanooks battled through the one goal game until the third period. After a four on four session expired and the Bulldogs back onto the power play, a turnover in the neutral zone gave the Nanooks the scoring chance they needed to tie the game up at one half way through the third period.

After constant pressure by the Bulldogs, the Nanooks were able to capitalize again just three minutes later to give them the 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs had a late power play due to Alaska’s too many men on the ice, but were not able to gain the tying goal.

The Bulldogs received a strong performance from goaltender Pat Nagle as he made 30 saves on the evening. Nagle also helped shutdown seven power play chances for the Nanooks.

On Saturday evening, the crowd was treated to a few more goals and a portion of overtime. The first period flew by with no scores, just penalties. But the Bulldogs came out strong in the second period to score back to back goals to take the early 2-0 lead. Just 26 seconds in, Connolly scored his eighth goal of the season. Menke assisted Connolly’s even strength goal.

Just over four minutes later, left winger Mike Embach scored his ninth goal of the season. Embach’s even strength goal was assisted by right winger Justin Lewandowski and center Aaron Lewicki.

The Bulldogs lead lasted until half way through the third period when the Nanooks were able to tie the contest at two and send the tight game into overtime. Overtime lasted 1:16 as Alaska was able to put in the game winner. Ferris State received a strong performance from goaltender Taylor Nelson as he made 27 saves and also shut down seven Nanook power plays.

The Bulldogs look to conclude their CCHA regular season with a home and home series against the Michigan Wolverines. On Friday night, the Wolverines will travel to Ewigleben Ice Arena for the 7:05 p.m. contest. Saturday night’s contest will start at 8:05 p.m. from Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor.

The DeNoyelles family is now a staple of the Ferris State women’s basketball team.

Stephanie and Kelsey DeNoyelles are sisters from Mt. Pleasant, who play together on the women’s basketball team. Stephanie is a redshirt sophomore and Kelsey is a freshman. Their father, Mark DeNoyelles, who coached them both in high school, is a first year volunteer assistant coach for the team. DeNoyelles has coached Kelsey and Stephanie for many years and it was fitting that he move up to the collegiate level to continue coaching them.

Coach DeNoyelles says it has been a process learning how to coach them and how to handle it. Stephanie was scrutinized much more than the other girls. “When she started playing for me as a freshman I found that I was much harder on her than I was everybody else,” said coach DeNoyelles. “It’s tough because I always expected more out of them than I did everybody else. So it was unfair to them, but they both handled it really well,” he said.

Coach DeNoyelles’ basketball knowledge stems from his playing days at Saginaw Valley State University. During his seven seasons as head coach of the Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart women’s basketball team, he amassed 141 victories and an 83.4 winning percentage. He has passed his knowledge of life and basketball to his daughters. Kelsey said that he taught her to be a leader. “Not just playing wise, on and off the court,” she said. Stephanie has learned valuable lessons that can be applied to all situations in life, not just basketball. “I’ve learned how to talk to people and get through to people in the right way,” said Stephanie.

The on-court relationship between coach DeNoyelles and the girls is professional in every way. Stephanie said she does not feel like he is her dad at all, but just a coach. “He coached both of us in high school, so we’re really used to it,” said Stephanie. There is no favoritism shown to any of the girls. “The girls don’t look at it like he’s our dad either,” she said.

The DeNoyelles sisters can be competitive with each other off the court. Stephanie said that they get competitive when they work out with each other, but in a game they treat each other as just a teammate. On the court, they play together very effectively. “I think we play really well together,” said Kelsey, “we know each other’s strengths.” The fact that they are sisters does not affect their relationship on the court.

Kelsey and Stephanie have been playing basketball since they were nine years old and their dad has coached them for most of those years. “He’s coached me since I was 10 in AAU,” said Kelsey. He started coaching Stephanie around that same time. “He coached me in fifth and sixth grade and then all throughout high school, and now,” said Stephanie.

This is not the first time that the DeNoyelles sisters have played on the same team. In high school, they played together when Kelsey was a freshman and Stephanie was a junior. Sacred Heart made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament that year. “We played together for a year and a half,” said Stephanie. An injury during her senior year cut her season short.

Three Ferris State indoor track and field athletes have qualified for the NCAA-II Indoor Championships in Houston, Texas.

Senior Mikinzie Stuart and sophomore Tina Muir from the women’s team and junior Matt Jozwiak from the men’s team, have each qualified for nationals in their respective events.

Stuart competes in the mile, the women’s 3,000-meter and the distance medley relay for the Bulldogs. She has provisionally qualified for nationals in the distance medley relay and the mile. Stuart ran the mile in under five minutes at the Grand Valley State D-II Challenge on Feb. 7, breaking the meet record.

“Running a four minute, 57.27 second mile was a tiring, but thrilling experience,” said Stuart. It has taken until her senior year to break that mark, but she says she wants to go out on top. “As a senior, achieving my dream of breaking five minutes in the mile and being on the ticket for nationals is a great way to end my running career,” said Stuart.

Tina Muir runs the mile, the 3,000, and the 5,000, which is her best event. Muir has provisionally qualified in the mile as well, with a mark of 5:01.30. When an athlete provisionally qualifies in an event, he or she is placed on a list and may potentially go to nationals depending on how high up the list they finish.

Muir has also automatically qualified for nationals in the 5,000 with a school record time of 16:55.20. “I was completely overwhelmed when I found out that I had not only reached automatic qualifying time, but surpassed it by a lot,” said Muir. This will be her first time competing in a national track meet. Her preparation for the competition will be similar to what she has been doing all year. “I am just going to keep doing what I have been doing all season and make sure I give myself the best shot to achieve my goals,” said Muir.

Matt Jozwiak set the school record in the 800 with a time of 1:51.51 on Feb. 14 at the GVSU Big Meet. With that time, he also automatically qualified for nationals. Jozwiak could not believe his time as he ran through the finish. “I watched the clock as I passed the finish line, but didn’t believe what it read,” said Jozwiak. Coach Picucci approached him after his race and told him he had qualified. It has been a goal of his for the past four years. “I can’t explain how happy I was,” said Jozwiak.

He competes in the 400, 800, mile and 3000 for the men’s team. The 800 is his primary event and he uses the others primarily for training purposes.

The men and women’s indoor track team’s success can be traced to first year interim head coach Steve Picucci, who was a four-year letterman in both men’s track and cross country from 1999-2003. A native of Brighton, Mich., he was the first runner in the program’s history to letter in both sports all four years.

Ferris will compete in the GLIAC league championship meet on Feb. 27 and 28. That is the final meet before the NCAA-II Indoor Championships on March 13 and 14. The Bulldog’s outdoor track and field season begins on March 27 in Raleigh, N.C.

The Ferris State Bulldogs softball team looks to continue last season’s regular and post-season success as experience looks leads the way. The Bulldogs will be returning 11 letter winners from last season, including four returning seniors.

Ferris State head coach Keri Becker enters her 12th season at the helm of the program and looks to start the season off strong as the Bulldogs were picked sixth in the nation in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA-DII preseason top 25 poll.

“It is that time of the year when weare anxious to get outside,” Becker said. “The walls of the gym are closing in on us, so February 27 will not come a day too soon. With the help of mother nature, we will open our season down in Kentucky.”

Last season, the Bulldogs finished 35-18 overall and 16-4 in the GLIAC. Ferris State also made it deep into the postseason as they became the NCAA DII Great Lakes Regional Champions. Their season came to an end in Texas at the NCAA DII National Championship Tournament.

The Bulldogs’ four returning seniors all were honored by the GLIAC last season. Catcher Krystle Bailey received honorable mention and started in 52 games last season. Outfielder/pitcher Holly Bruntjens received Second Team All-GLIAC honors and was also honored as the Great Lakes Regional most outstanding player as she looks to help anchor the Bulldogs pitching staff. "We have a great chance to be the team to beat this year because we have so much talent," Bruntjens said.

“I’m excited to see our team play with nine returning starters and talented newcomers,” Becker said.

First baseman Amanda Jager also received Second Team All-GLIAC honors and Second Team All-Great Lakes Regional honors. Jager started in 52 games and led the team with seven homeruns. “I’m looking forward to this season because I want to go further than last season. I think we have the potential, we just have to use our talents and take advantage and care of the little things,” Jager said.

Helping to anchor the pitching staff and lead the Bulldogs is Sarah Mueller. Mueller earned First Team All-GLIAC honors and Second Team All-Great Lakes Regional honors last season. Mueller led the team in hits, at bats, runs scored and triples last season. “I am very excited about this season because we have a great core of players coming back and our pitching staff this season is the best I’ve seen yet. I think we are going to be a very difficult team to beat this year,” Mueller said.

Also returning this season with last years GLIAC honors are second baseman Amanda Harrington, Second Team All-GLIAC and outfielder Lynsay Waver, GLIAC honorable mention. Harrington started 50 games last season and made strong offensive contributions to team. Weaver started all 53 games last season as she started in various positions.

The Bulldogs begin the season; weather permitting in Owensboro, Kent. where they will take place in the Kentucky Wesleyan Great Lakes Challenge on Feb. 28. The four game challenge will be the start to their road trip as they head down to Kissimmee, Fla. for the Florida Rebel Spring Games Tournament starting on March 7.

Ferris State will be participating in 14 games over seven days. The Bulldogs first home action will take place against rival Grand Valley on Sunday, March 29 at noon and 2 p.m.