UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team dropped a five set thriller by a 3-2 score to Northern Michigan University tonight (Sept. 14) in their 2012 GLIAC home opener.

The Wildcats gained the early momentum boost as they held the lead by a slim margin for most of the first set. Saginaw Valley ended up falling in the first set, 25-17.

The Cardinals opened the second set by jumping out to a 6-1 advantage in the early stages. SVSU widened their lead once again to five (18-13) before pulling away with the 25-16 set two victory.

Saginaw Valley remained energized with the support of a Cardinal Gym that was filled to capacity as they took a 24-17 advantage in the third set. The Wildcats fought back valiantly with a late surge, but ultimately fell 25-20 as the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set saw both teams go back-and-forth before SVSU broke out to a 14-10 advantage. Saginaw Valley held a 21-17 edge late in the fourth before the Wildcats fought back to within one (21-20). The Cardinals would have a match point at 24-23, but Northern would fend it off and end up taking the set 27-25 to force a fifth and deciding game.

Northern Michigan ran out to a 8-4 lead early in the final game before the Cardinals battled back to knot the score at 10-10. However, Saginaw Valley was unable to pull through in the end as Northern Michigan took the match with a 15-13 fifth set victory.

SVSU was led by Chili's "Player of the Match" Kelsey Ferla (Lincoln Park, Mich. / Gabriel Richard HS), who posted 17 kills on the evening.

The Cardinals fall to 4-6 on the year and are now 0-1 in the conference, while the Wildcats move to 8-2 overall and are now 1-0 in the GLIAC.

Saginaw Valley will return to action tomorrow (Sept. 15) at home when they battle Michigan Technological University for a 2:00 PM start.