*The first match's stats were not available at the time of this release.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Truman State University volleyball team opened play in its most important tournament of the regular season on Friday, the 2018 Midwest Region Crossover. The Bulldogs fell to No. 25 Michigan Tech in four sets before taking down Saginaw Valley State in the nightcap, also in four sets.

Truman now sits at 17-5, Michigan Tech has won eight-straight matches to improve to 18-3 and Saginaw Valley State's two Friday losses put its record at 14-7.

Against Saginaw Valley State, Truman hit a red-hot .302, its fourth-highest clip of the season and highest in over a month. Ellie Kaat was the story once again as she sent home a match high 22 kills and was one of three Bulldogs with at least 10 along with Sam Yancy (14) and Natalie Brimeyer (13). Savvy Hughes racked up a career high 56 assists, four different players had a service ace, Brimeyer assisted on five blocks, and Lauren Wacker paced the squad in digs with 16.

The first set represented Truman's second best hitting percentage of the day at .306, but Saginaw Valley State hit a match worst, .150. After ties at 1-1 and 2-2, the Cardinals took the lead and held it for some time before the Bulldogs battled back to tie it five more times. Once it was 13-13, Truman scored 12 of the final 20 points to win the set, 25-21.

The Bulldogs suffered a setback in the second period as the Cardinals won it, 25-23, but the Purple and White answered in both sets three and four. Saginaw Valley State had just two leads the entire third set and they came at 3-2 and 11-10. Once the Cardinals took that second lead, the Bulldogs ended the set by scoring 15 of a possible 23 points, won it 25-19 and were up 2-0 in the match.

In the fourth, Saginaw Valley State enjoyed a 3-2 advantage before Truman reeled off four-straight points and didn't look back. After that, the Cardinals could never get closer than two points and the Bulldogs led by as many as seven, 18-11.

Next up, Truman will face Tiffin of the G-MAC on Saturday with first serve set for 12 p.m.

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