MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball program started their final trip of the regular season Friday night as they went up to the upper peninsula to play the Northern Michigan Wildcats. They fell in straight sets with scores of 25-15, 25-20, and 25-14.

Madison Thompson led Saginaw Valley with nine kills with Sedona Coon tallying six and Sage Schumacher five. Ava Beard ran the offense with 18 assists and six coming from McKenna Sovis. Kelsey Vittitow led the team in digs with 11 and Sarah Veale was one behind with 10.

Set one started with two 2-0 runs for Northern to take a 4-1 lead and a 4-0 run stretched it to 8-2. SVSU started to fall behind quickly as a 5-0 forced a timeout and the Wildcat lead bloomed to 10. The Cardinals answered back with a 2-0 run and a 4-0 run with back-to-back aces for Sovis to bring the set to 16-11 NMU. A 2-0 run for SVSU with a block by Nicole Sisk forced a Northern timeout. Out of that timeout, NMU used two 3-0 runs to power through and claim the set.

A kill by Thompson and Schumacher helped SVSU to a 4-2 lead early in set two, which was the best attacking set for the Cardinals. A service error and ball handling error helped Northern claim a two-point lead with a 4-0 run. Coon tallied two kills to answer and tie the set at 6-6. A 3-0 run for the Wildcats helped them get ahead and the two teams went blow for blow through the middle part of the set. SVSU got a kill from Coon and an attacking error from Northern to make it 17-16 NMU before a 2-0 and 3-0 run put it out of reach for Northern Michigan as they claimed a two-set advantage.

The first major swing of set three was a 7-0 run for Northern that forced a timeout from Saginaw Valley and put the Wildcats up 10-3. A 3-0 run with a kill by Emily Foster and a block by Makaylah Roberts and Coon cut into the lead. Northern held that lead around four to five points for most of the second set until they broke out late once again. A 3-0 run put them up 20-12 and forced the final timeout by the Cardinals. Out of the break, a 2-0 run for SVSU showed life, but the Wildcats closed out the set and match on a 5-0 run to claim the victory.

Saginaw Valley women's volleyball finishes the road trip at Michigan Tech on Saturday, November 4 at 3:00 PM. The team has two final home matches afterwards to wrap up the 2023 regular season. They will host Davenport on Friday, November 10 and Purdue Northwest for senior day on Saturday, November 11.