Michigan Tech’s Grace Novotny hits the ball against Saginaw Valley State on Friday in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies women’s volleyball team found a way Friday night to continue their winning streak to five straight victories with a sweep of the visiting Saginaw Valley State Cardinals, 26-24, 25-21, 27-25, at the Wood Gym.

For the second straight match, it was not, by any means, easy.

The Huskies knew coming into the match that the Cardinals were a formidable opponent, considering the fact that they downed Ferris State on Saturday, 3-1. In that match, outside hitter Sarah Tabit had 20 kills for the Cardinals.

She was back at it Friday, popping off for a match-high 16 kills, making life difficult for the Huskies’ defenders all night.

“That’s a team that’s going to beat a lot of other good teams this year and continue to win some games,” Jennings said. “A 3-0 win against them is always a good thing. I know they were tight sets, but I think that speaks to our toughness late in those sets. I am really happy with the win.”

The Cardinals outhit the Huskies in the opening set, getting 16 kills as a team and hitting .222. While the Huskies hit just .188, they took advantage of a number of mistakes by the Cardinals as the visitors committed eight hitting errors in the set.

The Cardinals also had nine service errors on the night.

The Huskies jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the set before seeing that lead dissolve into a 20-20 tie. The Cardinals then jumped ahead 24-23 before committing consecutive errors to give the Huskies the set win.

In the second set, junior outside hitter MacAulay Petersen stepped forward for the Huskies, getting five of her team-high 13 kills.

Petersen, who missed most of 2018 with an injury, is just beginning to feel comfortable and more consistent on the court.

“I think I’m starting to regain a lot of my confidence,” she said. “That’s helping, so I think I’m feeling a lot better than it was at the beginning of the season.”

Her comfort level has also been noticed by her coach.

“(It is) fun to watch,” Jennings said. “(It is) really nice to watch, too, with how hard she works and how dedicated of a player and student athlete she is. I mean she’s just a wonderful person and she’s got a lot of power behind that swing. When she gets going, she’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Jennings especially liked Petersen’s final kill of the night. After missing on a previous try, she stuck with the play and when given a second chance, she dropped light touch just over the net that put the Huskies up 26-25 in the third set.

“I was just, I guess, trying to find the open court and I saw that spot,” Petersen said. “It was a big point for us, so I was glad the ball found the court there.”

In Jennings’ eyes, it was the type of play he expects from his team captain.

“All of them were big, but there was one in the third set there,” he said, “that tip on the right side just kind of put it in play there. That was a set saver and that was a big play. That’s an experienced captain-type play and we’re lucky to have her.”

Through two sets, the Cardinals had eight blocks as they focused a lot of attention on Huskies junior outside hitter Olivia Ghormley, whom they held to just six kills through the first two sets. In the third set, thanks in large part to the efforts of junior setter Laura De Marchi, Ghormley found herself in places where she could get away from the Cardinals’ block, and she had four of her 10 kills in the set.

Tech had three aces on the night. The Cardinals had four, including three in the final set.

The Huskies return to action at 4 p.m. Saturday as they host the Lake Superior State Lakers, who defeated the Northern Michigan Wildcats Friday night in four sets, 3-1.