HAMMOND, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball traveled to Hammond, Indiana on Friday for the largest volleyball tournament in the country, the Midwest Region Crossover. They started the weekend with matches against Upper Iowa and William Jewell. The Cardinals (3-15) lost both three sets to none.
Sarah Veale led the Cardinals with 17 kills over both matches and 10 digs. Elizabeth Bruschuk had 22 digs with 17 of them coming in the second match against the Cardinals. Jackie Scheiber totaled 45 assists with 18 in match one against the Peacocks and 27 against William Jewell. The team totaled 28 block assists over the two matches and nine aces.
Match One: Upper Iowa 3, Saginaw Valley 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20)
Set One: Upper Iowa jumped out to a 7-3 lead before the Cardinals brought it close with a 5-0 run taking advantage of Peacock attack errors. Another 5-0 run later on for SVSU gave them a 15-13 lead with Rachel Townsend recording the final kill. Upper Iowa stormed back with a 12-2 run to wrap up the set.
Set Two: An 8-0 run for the Peacocks gave them a huge early lead. Saginaw Valley closed the gap with a 5-1 run to make it 9-5 and later used a 4-0 run to make it 16-11. Upper Iowa took a double-digit lead with a 6-0 run to go up 22-11. SVSU used a 6-1 run with Veale tallying two kills to bring the set within six before losing the final two points.
Set Three: The Cardinals had a resurgence with a 7-1 run to start the set with Cola Sisk starting the run with a kill. After the quick lead, the Peacocks used a 6-0 run to tie the set at 10-10. The teams traded points until Upper Iowa sealed the set and the match with a 6-1 run.
Match Two: William Jewell 3, Saginaw Valley 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-13)
Set One: The two Cardinal teams traded points until William Jewell secured the first true lead of the set with a 5-2 run to go up 16-13. SVSU responded with two 2-0 runs and a 3-0 run but couldn't tie the set up and lost four of the final six points.
Set Two: A 4-0 run started it for Saginaw Valley as Kendall Ihm got a kill to start the run and Scheiber tallied two aces. A 4-0 run for William Jewell tied the set and then a 5-0 run later gave them an 11-7 lead. The Cardinals extended that lead to 17-10 before Saginaw Valley brought the set within one with an 8-2 run. Bruschuk had an ace as Townsend had two kills. William Jewell kept their edge and used a 4-1 run to claim a 2-0 set advantage.
Set Three: An 11-2 run for the Willaim Jewell Cardinals started the final set. They extended that lead with a 6-2 run to go up 18-6. SVSU had a 3-0 run and 4-1 run to cut into the lead but couldn't come back from the early deficit and fell in three sets.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley volleyball will play Kentucky Wesleyan at 9:00 AM EST on Saturday, October 19 and then play an undetermined opponent for their fourth match of the Midwest Region Crossover.