UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball program hosted Wayne State University at the Hamilton Gymnasium Friday evening. The Cardinals (3-8, 1-2 GLIAC) fell in four sets to the Warriors (4-6, 2-1 GLIAC) with scores of 25-18, 25-17, 23-25, and 25-19.

Sarah Veale led the Cardinals with a double-double including 14 kills and 13 digs. Ella Lochbiler had a good day hitting .421 with 10 kills on 19 attacks. Sedona Coon totaled eight kills and Ava Decker had seven as well. Decker, Sage Schumacher, and Cola Sisk all had three block assists as the team had nine total. Ava Beard led in the second touch with 38 assists on the match.

Set One: The Cardinals started hot jumping out to a 9-3 lead as Veale, Decker, and Makaylah Roberts all added to the offense. The Warriors responded with a 6-1 run to cut the lead to one before a 4-0 run gave Wayne State their first advantage. Decker and Veale teamed up for kills again to tie the set at 16-16 before A 9-2 run for WSU claimed the first set.

Set Two: Riding the momentum, the Warriors took an 8-5 lead. A 4-2 run with a kill by Rachel Townsend and Veale cut the lead to one before a 5-0 run for Wayne State pushed the lead. SVSU rallied to cut into the difference but a 5-0 run late pushed it out of reach before a kill ended the set and gave Wayne State a 2-0 lead.

Set Three: Saginaw Valley came out of the break with some fire. Quick kills by Lochbiler and Coon gave the Cardinals a 4-1 edge. Both teams battled as the set tied up 10 more times until a 22-18 lead for SVSU couldn't be broken. Wayne State pulled within one, but a SVSU timeout got the Cardinals back in form as Lochbiler got two kills in the final five points to force a fourth set.

Set Four: A quick 5-2 lead for the Warriors was erased on a 3-0 run by Saginaw Valley as Natalie Siler and Decker both recorded kills. The Warriors took advantage of a couple errors to put together a 5-0 run and take a 10-5 lead. Decker and Lochbiler kept tallying kills but couldn't bring the game within three as a 3-0 run for Wayne State pushed their lead to 16-9. A 4-1 run answer for SVSU brought the final set to 19-15 before a 5-2 run for WSU made it match point. Saginaw Valley recorded the next two points with kills by Veale and Lochbiler but couldn't rally anymore and fell in four sets.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley volleyball has a quick turnaround as they host No. 16 Grand Valley State University (10-1, 2-1 GLIAC) on Saturday, September 28. The match starts at 2:00 PM in the Hamilton Gymnasium.