INDIANPOLIS, Ind. - The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team fell, 3-0, to the Hillsdale Chargers but would bounce back with a victory over the Findlay Oilers, 3-0, in the final day of the Crossover Tournament. With their performance in the tournament the Cardinals improve to 15-5 overall and will resume GLIAC play next week as they host Davenport and Grand Valley State.
Game One: SVSU 0 - Hillsdale 3
The Cardinals opened the first set strong as Sarah Tabit led the attack offensively, scoring three of SVSU's first five points, cutting the Charger lead to a count of 6-5. The Chargers would go on to score 10 unanswered points taking the lead, 16-5. The Cardinals were unable to bounce back from this deficit and would drop the first set, 25-9.
Saginaw Valley would take an early lead as Hannah Tabit was able to spread out the Cardinals offense and set up Emily Friesl, Maria Vukaj, and Addison Bouza to score six unasnwered to make the score, 10-7. The Chargers would rally the Cardinals attacking offense to knot the second set, 17-17. Hillsdale would have some strong defensive plays that the Cardinals could not overcome as SVSU fell in set two, 25-20.
The Cardinals would find themselves in an early, 13-2, deficit as the Chargers were able to stay defensively sound as SVSU attacked. The Cardinals were able to climb back to within six, 13-7, as SVSU found their groove. Saginaw Valley made a late match push to overtake Hillsdale but were unable to overcome the early deficit and would ultimately fall in the third set, 25-19.
Inside the Box Score
- Emily Friesl led the Cardinals in kills with eight and a hitting percentage of .250 on her way to 'Player of the Match' honors. She also added one service ace, one dig, and led the team in blocks with three.
- Hannah Tabit led the team in assists with 25 and added four digs.
- Addison Bouza added five kills for the Cardinals with a hitting percentage of .250, matching teammate Friesl. Bouza also recorded two blocks for SVSU.
- Abbie Toland recorded 10 digs for a team high and also led the Cardinals with Maria Vukaj in service aces with two.
From Head Coach Will Stanton
"We really struggled to get our serve receive consistent, and Hillsdale took advantage of that. And our attacking did not help the situation, with too many attacking errors. We got some momentum later in the match, but not enough to force Hillsdale into a 4th set."
Game Two: SVSU 3 - Findlay 0
The Cardinals would take an early seven point lead on the Oilers, 12-5, led on attacks by Sarah Tabit and Maria Vukaj and blocks by Hannah Tabit, Emily Friesl, and Rylee Zimmer. SVSU would continue the attack with kills from Friesl and Vukaj which extended their lead to 22-11. The Oilers could not make up the point deficit and the Cardinals would take set one with a final count of 25-12.
Saginaw Valley opened set two with confidence and would take the lead, 10-5, as Sarah Tabit led the attack. The Oilers did not have a response for the Cardinals offense and would find themselves in a 16-10 deficit. SVSU would go on to score five unanswered points led Rylee Zimmer led both offensively and defensively to put the Cardinals up 21-10. This 11 point lead was too much for the Oilers to overcome as Saginaw Valley took set two by a score of 25-14.
The Cardinals entered set three hoping to sweep the Oilers and end the match, 3-0. SVSU did just that as they found themselves at a 10-7 advantage and continued to pour it on as they would score five unanswered points to go up 15-7. The Cardinal defense was too much for the Oilers as they would only add five more points to their score as the Cardinals closed the third set, 25-12, sweeping Findlay, 3-0.
Inside the Box Score
- Maria Vukaj had six kills and a hitting percentage of .455 while also recording 10 digs and one block on her way to 'Player of the Match' honors.
- Sarah Tabit led the team in kills with 14 and recorded a hitting percentage of .423. Tabit also earned one ace, four digs, and two blocks in the sweep of Findlay.
- Emily Friesl earned the highest hitting percentage for the Cardinals with .636 on 8 kills and added five blocks to lead the team defensively.
- Hannah Tabit led the Cardinals in assists with 29 and also recorded one service ace and four blocks.
From Head Coach Will Stanton
"We served Findlay very tough, and they struggled to get their offense on track. We attacked well and played some solid defense. It was a nice way to round out the weekend of regional crossover play."
Up Next...
The Cardinals are back in action again Friday (Oct. 25) as they host Davenport University in a GLIAC match up with the first serve set for a 7 p.m. Live stats and video links are available on the volleyball schedule page at svsucardinals.com.