UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team defeated the Grand Valley State University Lakers today (10/26), 3-2. The Cardinals improve to 13-8 on the season and 11-3 in the GLIAC, while Grand Valley falls to 8-7 in the conference and 11-11 overall with the loss.

The Lakers gained momentum in the first half winning 25-22 to take the early lead. However, the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 11-6 lead in the second and won the set 25-17 to tie up the match. The third set was knotted,15-15, but Grand Valley went on a run and took the set 25-18 to go up 2-1 in the match. Saginaw Valley continued the back-and-forth battle as they went up 11-5 early in the fourth set before the Lakers tied it up at 15-15. The Cardinals ultimately fought off a match point and won the fourth by a count of 26-24. SVSU went up early with a 6-3 lead in the deciding set but the Lakers came back to tie the set at 11-11. The Cardinals showed their poise and won the set and the match 15-12.

The Cardinals were led by senior Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) who earned "Chili's Player of the Match" honors with a match-high 24 kills on 55 total attacks and 14 digs, while adding four aces. Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) posted ten kills and five blocks, while Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) added eight kills and two blocks. Senior libero Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) recorded a match-high 24 digs in the thrilling five-set victory, while junior Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) finished the match with a match-high 48 assists and three kills.

The Cardinals are currently ranked seventh in the NCAA Midwest Regional rankings. The top eight teams advance to NCAA Regionals.

Saginaw Valley will attempt to extend their three-game win streak as they travel to Tiffin to battle the Dragons on Friday (10/28) for a 7:00 pm contest.