CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball program took on Lock Haven University Saturday afternoon for their third and final match of the Cedarville Invitational. The Cardinals (2-1) claimed a 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 22-25, 25-18) victory over the Bald Eagles (1-2).

Saginaw Valley had another big offensive day with Sarah Veale leading with 17 kills as the team hit .256. Veale also tied with Peyton Bartnikowski with eight digs as she was two short of a double double. The offense ran through Jackie Scheiber as she posted 33 assists in her college debut.

SVSU totaled nine blocks with 18 assists as Alena Whittaker led with four and Ava Decker and Emily Foster had three. Makaylah Roberts had two block assists and tied second in kills with Sedona Coon with eight.

Set 1: The Cardinals started down before chipping away and taking an 8-7 lead with kills from Scheiber and Veale. SVSU and LHU battled back and forth as Saginaw Valley held the advantage as the set tied five times. A 7-3 run with four kills by Veale pushed the SVSU advantage to 22-18. The Bald Eagles brought it within one before Roberts finished the set with a kill.

Set 2: SVSU started behind again as Lock Haven held an 8-4 lead before a 5-0 run for the Cardinals flipped the lead which included two kills by Roberts along with a kill and ace by Coon. The Bald Eagles claimed a slim lead again before a 13-3 run by SVSU dominated the second half of the set. Back-to-back blocks by Whittaker and Foster along with a pair of aces and LHU attack errors gave SVSU a 2-0 set lead.

Set 3: Points were traded to start the set as it was tied six times before a 4-0 run for SVSU gave them a 10-7 lead. Another 4-0 run put SVSU up 19-15 with kills coming from Ella Lochbiler, Veale, and Roberts before a 10-3 run for Lock Haven took the set and kept the match alive.

Set 4: An 8-3 run started the final set with a bang for Saginaw Valley as Veale, Coon, Decker, and Cola Sisk got the Cardinals ahead early. They took advantage of an 8-1 off the back of a kill from Roberts and Veale along with an ace from Roberts and Ava Beard to take an 18-8 lead. Lock Haven tried to claw back posting a 5-1 run to cut the lead to six but Decker got the final kill to claim the victory for SVSU.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley wrapped up their three-game weekend and will prepare for four games in Allendale, Michigan at the 2024 Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. Games start on Friday, September 13 and the Cardinals will play Missouri Western State (2-1) at 10:00 AM and Tiffin (2-1) at 4:00 PM.