AURORA, Ill. -- The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team was defeated by the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles today (10/14), 3-1, in the afternoon session of Day One at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament. The Cardinals fall to 10-7 on the season while the Eagles improve to 13-6.

The Eagles jumped out to a fast start and used their momentum to win the first two games by scores of 25-18 and 25-20. The Cardinals battled back in a tightly contested third game and prevailed 26-24. However, Southern Indiana jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set and closed out the Cardinals 25-17.

The Cardinals were led by senior Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) who earned Chili's "Player of the Match" honors with 12 kills along with a .391 hitting percentage. Fellow senior Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) recorded a team-high 17 kills and added 14 digs on the evening. Junior Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) posted a team-high 37 assists while libero Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) recorded a match-high 14 digs in the loss. Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) added seven digs, while junior Julia Thomas (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) tallied nine digs in the contest.

Saginaw Valley will try to get back on track as they continue with day two of GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament Saturday (10/15) afternoon at 1:00 pm against No. 22 University of Indianapolis.