UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball program dropped their match against Northern Michigan University Saturday night 3-0. The Wildcats took home the sets with final scores of 25-23, 25-10, and 25-18.
The Cardinals had great offensive sets in the first and third but couldn't come away with any set wins. They out hit the Wildcats with hitting percentages of .375 and .379 in those two sets. Madison Thompson led the team with 13 kills on her 35 total attacks. McKenna Sovis ran the offense again with her 26 assists. Elizabeth Brushchuk played well defensively coming up with a team high of 13 digs.
Saginaw Valley started strong in the first set taking a 4-1 lead off two Thompson kills and a block by Thompson and Sage Schumacher. Later, back-to-back attacking errors by Northern gave them the four-point lead again as they were ahead 8-4. The teams traded one- and two- point sequences until a 3-0 run for the Wildcats gave them a 16-15 advantage. SVSU tied the set up multiple times down the stretch at 16-16, 18-18, 20-20, 22-22, and 23-23, but the final two points went to NMU.
Set two was the slow start for the Cardinals. The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 advantage and SVSU trickled in some points but found themselves down 14-5 quickly. A 2-0 run including a kill by Kendall Ihm and a block by Ihm and Thompson, followed by a 3-0 run with another block for Ava Beard and Schumacher cut the lead to 17-10. Northern then took an 8-0 run to close out and claim the 2-0 set lead.
The final set showed some resurgence by Saginaw Valley. A 3-0 run to start including two aces by Kelsey Vittitow helped jump start the offense. Northern had a 3-0 run of their own to help them take a 5-4 lead before a 4-0 run stretched it to 10-6. SVSU traded points back and forth, but NMU closed out with a 3-0 run and then two separate points to win.
Volleyball is back at home next week as they host Lake Superior State on Friday, October 27. The match is scheduled for 5:00 PM and it is Hero's Night at the Hamilton Gymnasium.
