MARQUETTE, Mich.  --  The Northern Michigan University volleyball team defeated Saginaw Valley State University 3-1 to open Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference play Friday night.

The Wildcats won the opening set 25-21, and the second saw the team overpower their opponent, defeating the Cardinals 25-7.  In the third set, Saginaw Valley took a 25-23 victory, but NMU responded by winning the fourth set 25-14 to take the 3-1 GLIAC victory.

Senior Madison Whitehead (Altoona, Wisc.) led the Wildcat offense with 18 kills, finishing with a .412 hitting percentage.  Freshman Leticia Antunes (Florianopolis, Brazil/Colegio Ofelia Fonseca) added 12 kills and senior Kayla Chosa (Wrightstown, Wisc.) chipped in with 11 kills. 

Senior Jamie Hogeboom (Grand Haven, Mich.) notched 48 assists, and also led the team with five aces.  Jessica Skonning (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) finished the match with three aces.

Defensively, juniors Rachel Braunschweig (Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley/Cape Fear CC ) and Autumn Monsma (Grand Haven, Mich.) totaled 13 digs each.  Antunes tallied 12 digs, with Hogeboom giving the team 10 digs. 

At the net, redshirt sophomore Sarah  Kuehn (Green Bay, Wisc./De Pere) posted a team high six block assists.  Whitehead added three block assists and a solo block, while Antunes, Chosa, and Monsma each contributed two block assists.  Monsma also tallied a solo block as well.

As a team, the Wildcats averaged nearly 14 kills a set, including scoring 18 points on kills in the fourth.  The defense was dominant in the second set, allowing the visitors just one kill in the set. 

NMU improves to 7-2 overall, and 1-0 in the GLIAC, while Saginaw Valley falls to 1-8, 0-1 in the GLIAC.  Northern Michigan returns to Vandament Arena. Saturday afternoon to take on Lake Superior State University at 3 p.m.