UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State women's volleyball team earned a victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday, 3-2. The Lakers (5-21, 1-13 GLIAC) won the first set before the Cardinals (17-9, 8-5 GLIAC) won the next two. LSSU forced a fifth, which SVSU won.
Lake Superior State took an early lead in the first set. With the score at 9-7, the Cardinals scored four straight points. Jackie Scheiber (Wyandotte, Mich., Riverview Community HS) got a kill to tie it before an ace from Rachel Townsend (Oxford, Mich., Oxford HS) put SVSU in front, 10-9. Both teams went back-and-forth, never being separated by more than three points. Ava Decker (Elkhart, Ind., Elkhart HS) got a kill to tie the score at 24-24, but the Lakers scored the last two points to take set one, 26-24.
The Cardinals scored the first four points of the second set. LSSU errors gave SVSU the first two points, which was followed by kills from Sadie Devlaeminck (Grand Rapids, Mich., East Grand Rapids HS) and Taylor Smith (Pewamo, Mich., Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools). The Lakers went on a run of their own to take a 11-7 lead. The Cardinals battled back right away with another four-point run with kills from Marissa Roe (Chesterton, Ind., Chesterton HS), Ruby Earl (Howell, Mich., Howell HS), and Devlaeminck. Roe and Smith also picked up a block during that sequence. The set remained close throughout. Townsend gave SVSU set point with the score at 24-19. LSSU got one more kill before Decker scored the final point of the set, tying the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win.
Once again, Saginaw Valley State had a strong start to the set. They took the first two points of the third with kills from Devlaeminck. The teams went side-out throughout the set, with a few streaks mixed in. The Cardinals scored three in a row to go up by one point, 15-14. It was the longest run for SVSU up to that point in the set. Trailing by one point, 20-19, the Cardinals went on their longest streak of the set. They scored the last six points, led by three kills from Devlaeminck and one each from Finley Helm (Mount Pleasant, Mich., Mount Pleasant HS) and Townsend, to win the set, 25-20.
Lake Superior State was up big early in the fourth set. The Cardinals trailed by as much as 12, 15-3. However, SVSU battled back. They put together a few runs, including five straight to bring the set to within four, 16-12. A little later, back-to-back kills from Ava Decker made the score 21-20, LSSU. Despite the significant comeback, the Cardinals fell in set four, 25-22.
The fifth set looked like it was all Cardinals. Townsend and Scheiber each got kills to start the set with a 2-0 lead for SVSU. Townsend and Helm picked up kills in another run for the Cardinals to extend the lead with a score of 6-2. Lake Superior State made the score 9-6, but would not score another point. Helm and Decker each had a kill, giving the Cardinals a five-point lead and forcing the Lakers to call a timeout. Smith, Townsend, and Helm combined for the final four kills, giving SVSU the set win, 15-6, and the match win, 3-2.
The Cardinals were led by Townsend, who recorded a double-double with 20 digs and 13 kills. Kendall White (DeWitt, Mich., St. John's HS) also finished with a double-double with 15 digs and 10 assists. Devlaeminck had a career-high 11 kills. Roe and Decker each picked up 2.5 blocks. Smith added a team-high 43 assists. SVSU finished with a hitting percentage of .203 while LSSU finished with .183.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley State will face off against #1 Ferris State at home on Saturday, November 7, at 2:00 inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
