COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Ohio Dominican University tonight (Oct. 5) 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, and 25-20.
The Cardinals were locked in a back-and-forth battle for most of the first set before facing an 18-14 deficit. However, SVSU made a late charge to take the first game (26-24) for the early 1-0 match advantage.
Ohio Dominican jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the second game as they went on to victory in game two (25-22) despite a late surge by the Cardinals. The Panthers once again built up a comfortable lead in the third set as they went on to win the third game (25-16) to take the 2-1 lead.
In the fourth game, the Lady Cardinals held a 19-17 advantage late in the set. However, the Panthers went on a 8-1 run to take the set and the match with a 25-20 decision.
Julia Thomas (Novi, Mich.) paced the Cardinal hitters with a team-high 10 kills on a career-high 38 attacks with six digs. Makenzie Frodle (Fraser, Mich.) and Ashley Driscoll (Bellevue, Mich. / Kellogg CC) each recorded eight kills a piece on the evening. Frodle also tallied five blocks in the match.
Freshman Morgan Eddy (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Goodrich HS) recorded an efficient six kills on just nine attacks (.667) with three blocks. Libero Brooke Tiller (Maumee, Ohio / Maumee HS) gathered a team-high 21 digs, while Megan Jones (Shelby, Mich. / Henry Ford II HS) followed with 10 digs.
Chili's 'Player of the Match' Sam Breault (Bad Axe, Mich.) set up the Cardinal attack with 35 assists, while Nicole Adam (Sterling Heights, Mich.) added nine digs.
The loss drops the Cardinals to 7-10 overall on the season and 3-5 in the GLIAC, while the Panthers improve to 7-9 on the year and 3-5 in the conference.
Saginaw Valley will return to action tomorrow (Oct. 6) when they travel to Tiffin University to battle the Dragons at 2:00 PM.
