UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball hosted Northern Michigan for Senior Day Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (6-21, 3-13 GLIAC) fell in straight sets to the Wildcats (19-8, 13-4 GLIAC) with set scores of 25-19, 25-15, and 25-17.

SVSU honored six seniors including Natalie Siler, Sage Schumacher, Makaylah Roberts, Sedona Coon, Peyton Bartnikowski, and Sarah Veale. Veale led the Cardinals with nine kills and tied the team lead in digs with six. Coon and Elizabeth Bruschuk both had six digs as well. Schumacher hit .375 with four kills, one error, on eight attacks and Roberts had five kills, one error, on 12 attacks for a hitting percentage of .333.

Set One: Saginaw Valley 0, Northern Michigan 1 (19-25)

Both teams traded leads in a hard fought first set with seven ties and five lead changes. Northern Michigan jumped ahead with a 4-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. The Cardinals had two 3-1 runs to dig back but couldn't stop the NMU offense.

Set Two: Saginaw Valley 0, Northern Michigan 2 (15-25)

The Wildcats had a strong start with runs of 4-1 and 4-0 to take a big lead. SVSU tallied points off NMU errors but had six service errors that killed any momentum. A 6-2 run late for Saginaw Valley cut the lead to six with Northern Michigan ahead 18-12. The Wildcats closed out with seven of the last 10 points to take the 2-0 set lead.

Set Three: Saginaw Valley 0, Northern Michigan 3 (17-25)

A 7-2 run started the final set for Northern Michigan and forced a timeout by SVSU. The Cardinals cut into the lead to make it 11-8 NMU. A 4-1 Wildcat run pushed the advantage and NMU kept SVSU at a distance and wrapped up the set with a 3-0 run.

Season Recap:

Saginaw Valley volleyball finished the 2024 season with a record of 6-21 and 3-13 in the GLIAC, improving on the 2023 season with one more win and three less losses. The best stretch of the season was two 3-0 wins in a row defeating Lake Superior State on October 31 and Roosevelt the next day on November 1. Cardinal volleyball is back in action in the Fall of 2025.