FINDLAY, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team dropped both matches on the first day of the Findlay Classic on Friday. The Cardinals fell in straight sets to Cedarville in the first match of the day before experiencing the same result against Bloomsburg to finish the day.

Sarah Veale led the Cardinals against the Yellow Jackets in the first match with nine kills. She also registered six digs and an assist in the losing effort. Madison Thompson finished with six kills and seven digs to contribute on both sides of the ball. Sedona Coon led defensively with nine digs while McKenna Sovis and Ava Beard paced play with assist totals of 12 and 10 respectively.

Nicole Sisk registered 13 kills to lead Saginaw Valley against the Huskies. Ella Lochbiler totaled 11 kills in the nightcap. She also added eight digs to her stat line. Kelsey Vittitow led defensively against Bloomsburg with 17 digs. Veale added 14 digs of her own and was one kill away from completing a double-double.

SVSU dropped a tough battle in the first set as the score remained close all the way to the end. The Cardinals held set point with a 24-22 advantage, but Cedarville was spotted a point and then earned a kill to knot things up and force extra points. The next two points went the Yellow Jackets way and SVSU trailed 1-0 after one.

The Cardinals scored four straight points in the second to cut a six-point deficit to two in the middle of the second set. The lead would fall to a single point later, but wouldn't get any closer as Cedarville held on for the 2-0 advantage.

The score was tied seven times in the third before a 5-0 run gave Saginaw Valley a 12-9 edge. The Cardinals battled and held onto the lead until a 4-0 run by the Yellow Jackets captured the slimmest of leads, 18-17. Kendall Ihm locked the score at 18, but a 5-0 run by Cedarville recaptured the lead and SVSU couldn't recover.

Saginaw Valley battled back to tie the score at 16 in the first set against the Huskies before a 4-0 run provided the edge needed for Bloomsburg to hop out to a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals took control at the start of the second as they built a 5-2 lead early. The Huskies rallied to tie things at six, but SVSU used a 5-0 run to regain the lead and eventually build a lead of 19-10. Bloomsburg responded with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to two points before tying the score at 20. Three-straight scores flipped the momentum to the opponents who held on to steal the set and take a 2-0 edge into the third.

It was Saginaw Valley's turn to battle back from a deficit in the third as the team faced a seven-point deficit early before a 5-0 run completed a rally and gave the Cardinals a 13-12 lead. The score remained close to a tie at 19 points, but the Huskies used a 4-0 run to hold a lead and maintained it to finish the match in three sets.