UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team defeated the Northern Michigan University Wildcats tonight (10/21), 3-1. The Cardinals improve to 11-8 on the season and 9-3 in the GLIAC, while the Wildcats fall to 12-9 on the season and 9-3 in the conference.

The Cardinals were aggressive out of the gates and went up 6-0 to start the match. Saginaw Valley eventually took the first set by a 25-15 count. The Cardinals took a 14-8 advantage in the second set, but could not hold on and lost by a close 26-24 margin to the Wildcats. SVSU bounced back in the third with a runaway 25-17 victory to go up 2-1. The Cardinals used that momentum to jump out early and close out Northern Michigan after a 25-16 win in the fourth set.

The Cardinals were led by junior Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) who earned "Chili's Player of the Match" honors with a match-high 31 assists and six service aces. Senior Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) recorded a team-high 16 kills along with 14 digs, including a hitting percentage of .308 on the evening. Senior libero Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) posted a team-high 18 digs, while Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) added eight kills and three block-assists.

With the victory, the Cardinals move into second place in the GLIAC North Division.

Saginaw Valley will try to make a season sweep of the Upper Peninsula volleyball programs as they battle the Michigan Tech Huskies at home on Sunday (10/23) for a 2:00 pm contest.