Saginaw Valley posts 3-1 win over Northwood

Saginaw Valley posts 3-1 win over Northwood

MIDLAND, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team won, 3-1, on the road against cross-town rivals, the Northwood Timberwolves, in a GLIAC matchup. The Cardinals improve to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in GLIAC play.

With the home court advantage the Timberwolves took an early, 8-4, lead over the Cardinals in set one. The point advantage would remain with Northwood through a majority of the match as scoring was back-and-forth through a score of 20-15, in favor of the Timberwolves. SVSU would go on a scoring spree led by Maria Vukaj, who recorded two kills, and Addison Bouza who earned one kill in the Cardinals five point swing to knot the set, 20-20. SVSU and Northwood went point for point to, 23-23, and the Cardinals would close the set scoring the final two points as Hannah Tabit set up opportunities for Emily Friesl and Sarah Tabit to complete the comeback, 25-23. 

The Cardinals opened set two with some offensive adjustments and took a, 7-1, lead over Northwood. Saginaw Valley continued to pour on the offensive pressure as Hannah Tabit was able to spread the ball to four different teammates to increase the lead, 14-4. This 10 point lead was too big of a gap for Northwood to overcome as SVSU would take set two in commanding fashion by a score of 25-18. With the set two win, the Cardinals held a 2-0 match lead over the hosting Timberwolves.

SVSU found themselves in a, 5-2, deficit early in the third set. The Cardinals responded by scoring four unanswered points, forcing the Timberwolves to call a timeout and regroup. Northwood fought back and would knot the third set, 10-10. SVSU found themselves behind as Northwood picked up offensive momentum and took a 17-14 lead. The Timberwolves went on to score four unanswered, taking a 23-17 lead over the Cardinals. This deficit was too much for SVSU to overcome as they would drop set three to the Timberwolves, 25-20. The match would go into a crucial fourth set for the Timberwolves as the Cardinals held a, 2-1, advantage.

 Coming off a set win, the Timberwolves were hungry for another. SVSU derailed that momentum by taking an early, 7-4, advantage over Northwood. The Cardinals would go on to increase their lead, 11-6, forcing Northwood to call a timeout and change strategies. The timeout was no help for the Timberwolves as SVSU would go on to further their lead to seven points making the score, 18-11. The Timberwolves were unable to fight back from this deficit and would ultimately fall to the Cardinals, 25-17.

Inside the Box Score

  • Hannah Tabit helped spread the ball around offensively and earned 48 assists, had two service aces seven kills and a hitting percentage of .545. Tabit also had a block and seven digs for the Cardinals which led to her 'Player of the Match' honors. 
  • Leading the Cardinals with a well rounded performance was Sarah Tabit who led the team in kills with 20 and earned a hitting percentage of .350. She added three assists and three blocks and had 19 digs in the win over Northwood.
  • Maria Vukaj had 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .300 and would add eight digs. 

From Head Coach Will Stanton

"Hannah did a great job of serving tough and distributing the ball. Our offense was solid for most of the match, and Abbie did avery good job coordinating our defense."

Up Next... 

The Cardinals are back in action Saturday (Nov. 9) as they host the Lake Superior State Lakers. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. You can follow the action live at svsucardinals.com.