Saginaw Valley State & Hillsdale Advance to GLIAC Volleyball Tournament Championship Match

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HILLSDALE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University and Hillsdale College volleyball teams each posted Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament semifinal wins on Saturday. The Cardinals downed Northern Michigan University, 3-0, in the first match. While the Chargers defeated Ashland University in the second semifinal, 3-1.

Saginaw Valley State 3, Northern Michigan 0 [Box Score]

Release courtesy of the Saginaw Valley State University Sports Information Department

The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team has advanced to the 2009 GLIAC Volleyball Championship match following a 3-0 victory over Northern Michigan University in the tournament semifinals. The Cardinals swept the match with scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-15 to claim the victory.

SVSU was led offensively by junior Jessica Treiber (Sebewaing, Mich./USA HS), who was the only player in the match to reach double-digit kills. She had 10 kills while hitting at a .444 clip on the afternoon. Sophomore Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont.) also had a good match offensively, hitting .600 while recording six kills and no attack errors. Senior Kait Harris (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) had 25 assists, as the Cardinals ended hitting .277 as a team. Senior

Allison Schlinkert (Marysville, Mich.) and sophomore Laura Ward (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) each had double-digit digs defensively for SVSU, with Schlinkert posting 12 and Ward adding 10. The Cardinals had six total blocks as well whille holding the Wildcats to a .037 hitting percentage for the match.

After the match, several Cardinals were honored with their respective All-GLIAC awards. Harris received her 2009 GLIAC Volleyball "Player of the Year" award as well as her All-GLIAC First Team plaque. Sophomore Annie Buxton (Aurora, Ont.) also received her First-Team award. Treiber and senior Jaclyn Carnago (St. Clair, Mich.) were called-up to receive their Second Team All-GLIAC awards and Schlinkert received her All-GLIAC Honorable Mention award.

The win over the Wildcats moves the Cardinals' record to 21-8 on the season while Northern falls to 19-11 overall. SVSU will compete in the championship match tomorrow (Nov. 15) at 2:00 pm. They will face the winner of the second semifinal match, which is between Hillsdale College and Ashland University.

Hillsdale 3, Ashland 1 [Box Score]

Release courtesy of the Hillsdale College Sports Information Department

The Hillsdale College volleyball team achieved another first Saturday afternoon.

The Chargers won a GLIAC Tournament Semifinal match at news story image home for the first time ever, defeating a red-hot Ashland University team 3-1 before more than 500 fans at Jesse Philips Arena.

Hillsdale (22-7) advances to its second conference champinship match in three years, and will host Saginaw Valley State University at 2 p.m. Sunday. SVSU (21-8) defeated Northern Michigan 3-0 in the other semifinal match.