MIDLAND, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team bounced back by defeating the Northwood University Timberwolves today (11/5), 3-1. The Cardinals improve to 16-9 on the season and 14-4 in the GLIAC, while the Timberwolves fall to 12-14 overall and 10-8 in the conference.

The Cardinals got off to a slow start as the Timberwolves went up 4-0 early, but SVSU settled into position took the first set 25-20 with seven kills from senior Annie Buxton. Saginaw Valley jumped out to an early 7-2 advantage on the Timberwolves to start the second set. Northwood cut the lead to two at 13-11, but the Cardinals would take control and have a set point at 24-19. The Timberwolves would not go away as they won the next five points to knot up at the set at 24-24. However, Becky Schroeder came through with a big kill and Buxton served up an ace to put the Cardinals up 2-0 in the match with a 26-24 win.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle in which neither squad had more than a three-point advantage as Northwood came out on top with a 25-23 decision. The Cardinals were knotted up at 13-13 midway through the fourth set before SVSU went on a 12-5 run to close out the set and the match 25-18.

The Cardinals were led by freshman Kelsey Ferla (Lincoln Park, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) who earned Chili's "Player of the Match" honors with 10 kills on 19 attacks for a .421 hitting percentage. Senior Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont./Aurora SS) posted a match-high 21 kills on seven digs, while fellow senior Becky Schroeder (Owosso, Mich./Northwood University) recorded nine kills, six blocks and two service aces along with a .333 hitting percentage. Junior Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) finished the match with 41 assists, five kills, five digs and five blocks. Julia Thomas (Novi, Mich.) also added twelve digs in the victory for the Cardinals, while libero Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) finished with a team-high 13 digs.

The Cardinals have clinched the third seed in the 2011 GLIAC Volleyball Tournament and will host the to be determined No. 6 seed in the first round on Thursday (11/10) inside the Cardinal Gym.

Saginaw Valley will close out the regular season portion of their schedule with a trip to Sault Ste. Marie to battle the Lake Superior State Lakers for a 2:00 match on Sunday (11/6).