Saginaw Valley State University Athletics will be releasing a series of student-athlete spotlights, which will feature some of our Cardinal senior student-athletes from the 2019-20 academic year. Stay tuned to www.svsucardinals.com to get to know our SVSU seniors a bit more.

Next up in our series is Volleyball student-athlete Abbie Toland. Abbie is a native of Maumee, Ohio who has been a member of the team for the past four years. She played in 115 career matches, racking-up 1,606 digs with 188 assists in her 427 sets played. She is a two-time All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honoree as a libero and ranks third in program history with her 1,606 digs. 

Abbie's favorite spot on campus is the Hamilton Gymnasium. She has some of her fondest memories of playing games there and she has spent many hours in the facility.

Toland's favorite memory while competing for the Cardinals was when the team beat Ferris State for the first time since the 2009 season. It was a big win and it took a lot of hard work, as Ferris is one of the top programs in the country. It was a fun game and a huge accomplishment for the team to beat the Bulldogs. After SVSU won the last point, the entire team stormed the court and everyone was hugging one another. It was a great feeling! 

The favorite road trips for Abbie was when the team would travel to the U.P. Even though it is one of the farthest road trips, it was really pretty and she enjoyed visiting some of the cute towns. 

Abbie is an elementary education major who is set to graduate in December 2020. After graduation, she plans on moving back to Ohio to find a teaching job. She will also be working at her future husband's family greenhouse. 

Outside of athletics, Toland loves to garden. She has been working at a greenhouse the past two summers and has learned a lot about flowers and planting vegetable gardens. She loves the different things you can do with flowers and all of the different colorful varieties. 

SVSU Volleyball Head Coach Will Stanton on Abbie Toland...

"Abbie was a tremendous leader and role model for Cardinal Volleyball, and her competitive spirit pushed her beyond what many thought she could accomplish. She developed into one of the best liberos in the Conference through sheer force of will and hard work. While we will miss Abbie's calm demeanor and ball control next year, we will miss her leadership and maturity even more."