UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The #24 Saginaw Valley State University Volleyball team defeated the Northern Michigan University Wildcats in a five-set thriller Friday night (Sept. 11) to open its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) schedule.

The Cardinals opened the match taking the first set, 25-23. The Wildcats would rebound to win the next two by scores of 25-13 and 31-29. SVSU would storm-back for victories in the next two sets, taking the fourth, 25-23, and the fifth and final set by a count of 21-19. Senior Allison Schlinkert (Marysville, Mich.) and sophomore Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont.) each totaled 15 kills for the Cardinals in the match. Sophomore Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) had 10 kills while junior Jessica Treiber (Sebewaing, Mich./USA HS) and senior Jaclyn Carnago (St. Clair, Mich.) added eight apiece. Senior Kait Harris (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) totaled 44 assists in the match. Sophomore Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) recorded a team-high 28 digs. Buxton added six service aces in the match.

The victory moves SVSU’s record to 6-3 overall on the season with a 1-0 mark now in the GLIAC. Northern moves to 4-5 and 0-1, respectively. The Cardinals will host Michigan Technological University (3-6, 1-0 GLIAC) for a 2:00 pm match-up Saturday (Sept. 12.).