MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team opened up its 2011 GLIAC play by defeating the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday night (9/9) by a score of 3-1.  The victory improves the Cardinals' record to 2-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC while the Wildcats fall to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The Wildcats came from 14-9 down in the first set to win 25-22, but the Cardinals would bounce back to even the match in the second set, 25-20. Saginaw Valley then went on to close out the match taking the third and fourth sets, 25-18 and 25-21.

Senior Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) earned Chili's "Player of the Match" honors, hitting .588 while posting a team-high twelve kills and three blocks.  Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) tallied 11 kills and added eight digs for the Cardinals on the evening. Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) had a match-high 19 digs, while Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) posted a match-high 40 assists and two service aces. Senior Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) added seven kills and had a .467 hitting percentage for the match.

The Cardinals are back in action Saturday (9/10) when they visit Michigan Tech for a 4:00 pm contest.