Volleyball splits games at the Midwest Region Crossover

Outside hitter Rylee Zimmer spikes the ball, scoring a point for Saginaw Valley State University and gaining them the lead. Vanguard Photo Editor | Justin Kruskie

This past weekend, the Saginaw Valley State University women’s volleyball team faced off against two conference opponents.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals started out its weekend with a tough loss against Parkside University.

The Cardinals traveled to Wisconsin as it was set to face off aginst the Parkside Rangers. The end results being 25-17, 18-25, 25-15, and 25-11. The Cardinals record goes to 10-13 on the season and 5-7 in the GLIAC conference.

In an offensive-heavy game, Parkside outhit SVSU in the first set and carried this into a total attack percentage of .219. In a quick turn around, the Cardinals stole the second set and took advantage of their newfound points in yet another offensive winning match.

Defensive specialist Elizabeth Brushuk prepares to serve the ball against Lake Superior State. Vanguard Photo Editor | Justin Kruskie

The Cardinals secured a .266 attack percentage against Parkside’s .179. SVSU carried this momentum into the third set and kept a three-point lead. In a disheartening reversal, the Parkside Rangers shot ahead in points and did not waver, gaining them the victory in both the third and fourth sets.

Parkside continued to outhit SVSU as its defense began to struggle as well, ultimately losing any momentum it may have carried from the beginning.

Despite the overall lack of offensive movement, Rylee Zimmer and Madison Thompson both ended the final match with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Peyton Gerstacker, senior setter, led the team with 24 assists overall.

On Saturday, October 22, the Cardinals played an intense four matches against visiting school Lake Superior State. This threw them deeper into the season with a 10-14 overall record and 5-8 in the GLIAC conference.

Saginaw Valley State University prepares for the serve as they face Lake Superior State University. Vanguard Photo Editor | Justin Kruskie

The two teams rallied back and forth and remained similar in almost all statistics for the first two sets. In an unfortunate play, the Cardinals continue to offer up points through smaller errors such as servereceive and ball-handling. This allowed the Lakers to plow forward and snatch up point after point.

Madison Thompson, sophomore hitter, set a career-high of 13 digs and two blocks on the offensive side. Gerstacker continues this impressive performance with 45 assists and 3 blocks for a solid double double. Zimmer had 13 digs. Makaylah Roberts, sophomore middle hatter, also made it on the board with 7 kills and 4 blocks.

The Cardinals continue their season in another GLIAC matchup this Tuesday at 7 p.m. SVSU will host in Hamilton Gymnasium.

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