UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team won their fifth straight match by defeating the Ohio Dominican University Panthers today (10/30), 3-1. The Cardinals improve to 15-8 on the season and 13-3 in the GLIAC, while Ohio Dominican falls to 4-12 in the conference and 11-15 overall.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 20-14 advantage in the first game before the Cardinals battled back to cut the deficit to just one at 21-20. However, ODU grabbed the next four points to win the first game 25-20. The Cardinals took control in the second game early to the tune of a 20-9 lead before fending off a Panther comeback to tie up the match with a 25-22 victory.

Saginaw Valley continued their aggressive play and took a 15-8 lead midway through the third game, which the Cardinals would win by a 25-21 count to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. SVSU finished off the match in the fourth set with a 25-16 victory to close out the Panthers by a 3-1 decision.

The Cardinals were led by senior Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) who earned Chili's "Player of the Match" honors with a team-high 14 kills including a .357 hitting percentage and seven block-assists. Fellow senior Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) recorded 12 kills on 22 attacks for a .409 hitting percentage along with three block-assists. Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) posted eight kills and 16 digs, while freshman Kate Czopek (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights HS) and Kelsey Ferla (Lincoln Park, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) finished the match with seven attacks each. Senior libero Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) recorded a match-high 21 digs in the road victory, while junior Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) finished the match with a match-high 41 assists.

Saginaw Valley will attempt to extend their five-game winning streak as they host No. 11 Ferris State on Wednesday (11/2) for Senior Night. The match is schedule for 7:00 pm inside the Cardinal Gym.