The Ashland University volleyball team saw its winning streak snapped at nine on Saturday (Oct. 5) afternoon as Saginaw Valley knocked off the Eagles in four sets, 25-14, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, at Kates Gymnasium.
It was Ashland's first loss since a three-set defeat against Clarion on Sept. 13 and the Eagles' first at home since last season. AU is now 9-1 at Kates Gymnasium this season.
The Eagles (14-3, 6-1 GLIAC) were not able to get into the flow of the match, especially early on as the Cardinals (11-4, 5-2 GLIAC) rode to easy wins in the first two sets.
Ashland posted a rally in the third set, which saw eight tie scores and four lead changes. SVSU took an 18-17 lead in the set, but a service error by the Cardinals gave the serve back to Ashland before redshirt-junior Brooke Peiffer put down consecutive kills to give the Eagles a 20-18 lead.
The Eagles went on to take the set by winning the last three points, including a kill by senior Sophi Cudworth.
After trailing almost the entire fourth set, the Eagles tied it at 17 on a Saginaw Valley error, but the visitors scored the last eight points to clinch the victory.
Sophomore Erin Krupar led the Eagles with 15 kills (.189), while Peiffer chipped in with 11 kills (.079) and 10 digs.
The Eagles hit just .122 as a team while the Cardinals came in at .297.
Junior libero McKinley Smith led the back row with 18 digs and sophomore setter Zoey Peck managed 35 assists and four kills.
The Eagles had no answers for the SVSU duo of Emily Friesl and Haley Clum, who combined to hit .615 with 33 kills and just one error between them. Hannah Tabit had 46 assists and 10 digs.
The Eagles will now hit the road for the Upper Peninsula, beginning the trip with a match at Northern Michigan on Friday (Oct. 11). First serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
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