Cardinals Drop Pair on Final Day of UIndy Invitational

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to Walsh before falling to host UIndy on Saturday to close out the UIndy Invitational at the Ruth Lilly Center. The Cardinals (2-2) opened the weekend with a pair of sweeps on Friday before falling 3-2 to Walsh and 3-0 to UIndy on the final day, finishing the season-opening tournament with a 2-2 record. Match 1: Cardinals 2, Cavaliers 3 Saginaw Valley appeared to be on its way to a third consecutive sweep after taking the opening two sets against Walsh, but the Cavaliers rallied to force a fifth before winning an extended deciding set, 20-18. The Cardinals came out firing offensively, hitting .413 with 21 kills in the opening set. SVSU never trailed after scoring the first three points and built its advantage to seven at 18-11. Walsh pulled within three at 20-17 before the Cardinals closed on a 5-1 run, capped by a <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8943" rev="8943">Jackie Scheiber</a> (Wyandotte, Mich., Riverview Community HS)</dfn> kill, to take the set 25-18. Saginaw Valley remained efficient in the second, hitting .412 with 18 kills. A 6-0 run behind the serve of <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8947" rev="8947">Kendall White</a> (DeWitt, Mich., St. John's HS)</dfn> put the Cardinals ahead 11-7. SVSU never relinquished the lead, closing the set with a 25-20 victory to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage. Walsh responded in the third, building a 20-13 lead during a 25-17 win. The Cavaliers carried the momentum into the fourth, using a 5-0 run to take a 6-2 advantage before another surge extended the lead to 16-8. Walsh took the set 25-14 to force a decisive fifth. The final set featured 10 ties as neither side was able to pull away. Walsh built a 14-9 advantage and reached match point, but the Cardinals refused to go away. <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8945" rev="8945">Rachel Townsend</a> (Oxford, Mich., Oxford HS)</dfn> sparked a five-point run that included two service aces and a <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8946" rev="8946">Chloe Vanwinkle</a> (Clio, Mich., Clio High School)</dfn> kill to tie the set at 14-14. Townsend followed with a kill to erase another match point at 15-15 before SVSU again fought off Walsh at 16-16. Vanwinkle tied the score at 17-17, and <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8937" rev="8937">Ava Decker</a> (Elkhart, Ind., Elkhart HS)</dfn> answered once more with a kill to make it 18-18. The Cavaliers finally broke through with the final two points to take the set 20-18 and complete the comeback. SVSU finished the match with 70 kills and 99 digs while matching Walsh with 10 total blocks. The Cardinals hit .189 for the match after hitting better than .400 in each of the opening two sets. Scheiber led the Cardinal attack with 16 kills, while <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8942" rev="8942">Marissa Roe</a> (Chesterton, Ind., Chesterton HS)</dfn> recorded 13 kills on a .417 hitting percentage and eight total blocks. Vanwinkle added 13 kills, 18 digs and five block assists for her first double-double of the season, while Townsend finished with 11 kills, 15 digs and two aces. <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8985" rev="8985">Taylor Smith</a> (Pewamo, Mich., Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools)</dfn> filled the stat sheet with 48 assists, 16 digs and five kills for her first double-double with SVSU. White led the defense with a match-high 27 digs. Match 2: Cardinals 0, Greyhounds 3 Saginaw Valley returned to the court later Saturday afternoon against tournament host UIndy, falling 25-15, 25-18, 25-13. The opening set was tied five times early, including at 7-7, before the Greyhounds took control with an 8-0 run to build a 15-7 advantage. SVSU was unable to cut the deficit below seven the rest of the way as UIndy took the opener 25-15. The Greyhounds jumped ahead 13-4 in the second before Saginaw Valley began to battle back. The Cardinals scored four straight to cut the deficit to 13-8 and later pulled within three at 16-13 following a Townsend kill. UIndy answered each push, however, and closed the set with the final three points for a 25-18 win. UIndy established an early advantage again in the third, building leads of 8-3 and 12-4. The Cardinals put together a late three-point run behind a pair of <dfn><a href="/roster.aspx?rp_id=8938" rev="8938">Ruby Earl</a> (Howell, Mich., Howell HS)</dfn> kills and a service ace to make it 21-13, but the Greyhounds responded with four straight points to finish the sweep. Townsend led SVSU with 11 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Decker recorded six kills on a .385 hitting percentage, while Smith finished with four kills on six attempts, 17 assists, eight digs, a service ace and two total blocks. The Cardinals hit .090 as a team with 32 kills while UIndy finished at .311 with 42 kills. Up Next: The Cardinals return to action Friday, September 4, at the Grand Rapids Downtown Classic. They'll take on Northwood at 10 AM and Seton Hill at 4 PM at the Davenport Student Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.

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