ASHLAND, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University women's volleyball team went 2-0 in weekend play with victories over Ashland, 3-1, and Wayne State, 3-2. The Cardinals improve to 11-4 overall and 5-2 in GLIAC play.
The first set was evenly matched as the Cardinals and Eagles would knot the set at 8-8. A block by Emily Friesl and Hannah Tabit would jumpstart a Cardinal scoring frenzy that would put SVSU ahead, 20-13, late in the set. Saginaw Valley would close the first set scoring four points unanswered with the final point coming on a kill from Olivia Dean from Abbie Toland to put the Cardinals up, 1-0 in the match.
SVSU opened set two very aggressively going on a 5-0 run to give the Cardinals an early lead of 6-1. Ashland could not dig themselves out of the early five point deficit and would fall to Saginaw Valley in set two by a score of 25-18.
With a 2-0 lead in the match, the Cardinals held control of the game. The third set was very competitive with the score knotted 17-17. Ashland would hold strong defensively and force errors late in the set to score the final three points and win, 25-21.
The Cardinals would take a four point lead early in set four by a count of 11-7. Ashland responded aggresively as they would tie the set late at 17-17. SVSU would hold strong in the last portion of the set not allowing the Eagles to score as the Cardinals scored the final seven points of the match unanswered winning, 25-17.
Inside the Box Score
- Emily Friesl and Haley Clum both received 'Player of the Match' honors as Friesl recorded 17 kills and no errors with a hitting percentage of .567 and Clum with 16 kills with a hitting percentage of .682. Both athletes added five blocks which added to the teams 20 total blocks
- Hannah Tabit led the team in assists with 46 and five blocks while also adding 10 digs
- Maria Vukaj added nine kills of her own and led the team in digs with 18. She also added three assists and two blocks
From Head Coach Will Stanton
"Our passers did a great job putting us in system, so our offense really flowed. We were able to spread it out and stress their blockers and defense all match. Haley Clum and Emily Friesl had a great night offensively and blocking, and Hannah Tabit set a very good match for us."
Up Next...
The Cardinals are back in action Friday (Oct. 1) as they host Purdue Northwest at 7:00 p.m. You can follow the action live at svsucardinals.com.