UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State volleyball team earned a sweep over Purdue Northwest on Friday, 3-0. The Cardinals (16-9, 8-5 GLIAC) ended the match with a hitting percentage of 0.285 while holding the Lions (6-18, 3-11 GLIAC) to 0.133.
Purdue Northwest scored the first point of the match, but two kills by Rachel Townsend (Oxford, Mich., Oxford HS) and another from Ruby Earl (Howell, Mich., Howell HS) put the Cardinals in front, 3-1. SVSU went down again, 5-4, but rattled off four straight points, highlighted by a kill from Townsend, to take a 8-5 lead. However, the Lions battled back and scored eight of the next nine points, putting SVSU down 13-9 and forcing them to use their first timeout. Out of the timeout, Townsend picked up two more kills and Marissa Roe (Chesterton, Ind., Chesterton HS) added an ace. The Cardinals retook the lead shortly after on a PNW attack error, 17-16. SVSU used their final timeout late in the set, trailing 22-21. Saginaw Valley State scored the next three points off of kills from Earl, Roe, and Cola Sisk (Lake Fenton, Mich., Lake Fenton HS). Earl and Ava Beard (Berkley, Mich., Berkley HS) picked up back-to-back kills to win the first set, 26-24.
The teams went back and forth before SVSU scored five straight points to take a 7-4 lead. This was highlighted by a service ace from Kendall White (DeWitt, Mich., St. John's HS). The Cardinals dominated throughout the set, as Townsend recorded ten kills in the set. SVSU led by as much as nine at one point in the set, 23-14. The Lions battled back making 24-20, but a kill from Townsend ended the set and put the Cardinals up 2-0 in the match.
Saginaw Valley State fell behind early in the third set. Kendall Ihm (Owosso, Mich., Owosso HS) connected on a kill to give the Cardinals their first lead, 8-7. SVSU took advantage of PNW mistakes and also got kills from Earl and Townsend to take over the set and take a 16-11 lead. Once again, Purdue Northwest found their way back into the set, making it a 19-17 SVSU lead. The Cardinals were able to hold off the Lions to get to match point with a 24-21 lead. Earl closed the book with another kill, giving the Cardinals the sweep.
Saginaw Valley State had a number of standouts in the win. Townsend finished with a team-high 21 kills. Earl finished with a double-double: a career-high 15 kills to go along with 10 digs. Beard finished with a season-high 36 assists. White led the team with 20 digs. Ihm and Sisk each finished with 1.5 blocks.
The Cardinals celebrated six seniors on Senior Night: Townsend, White, Sisk, Earl, Beard, and Ihm.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley State will be back at home tomorrow for a Halloween match against Lake Superior State. First serve is set for 4:00 PM at Hamilton Gymnasium.
