Marquette, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State Volleyball team dropped their conference opener on the road, 3-1, to Northern Michigan Friday night (Sept. 15). The Cardinals fall to 1-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while the Wildcats increased their record to 7-2, 1-0. 

Match Highlights – Northern Michigan (3-1)

The Cardinals battled hard in the first set, but with late runs from the Wildcats Northern Michigan pulled out the first set, 25-21. NMU brought big swings to the second set, edging out SVSU 25-7. The third set was a battle for both teams, with Saginaw Valley taking the lead for the first half of the match. When 14-12 came around, the Wildcats took a five point run to take the lead 18-14. SVSU battled strong to take back the lead 23-22 and eventually the set 25-23. The fourth set was tight until Northern Michigan created multiple runs and edged out the set 25-14 and taking the match 3-1. 

Inside the Boxscore: 

• Sarah Tabit brought 13 kills and nine digs to the court tonight, earning her the "Player of the Match."
• Senior libero Emily Neiman tallied 14 digs for the Cardinals.
• Abbie Toland recorded seven digs. 
• Setter Hannah Tabit added 30 assists to tonights match. 

From Head Coach Will Stanton

"We fought well in short bursts, but we are struggling to maintain the focus and intensity to finish games. We started out well and had a shot at game one, but we let it slip away and that carried over into the game two loss. Our game three effort was better and we made some good things happen."

Up Next... 

SVSU will continue on the road for another conference match against Michigan Tech tomorrow (Sept. 16) starting at 4 p.m. 

@SVSU_Volleyball | #svsuwvb | @SVSUAthletics | #GoSVSU

--- www.svsucardinals.com ---