Beacons WVB Fall to UIC in Second Round of MVC Tournament

Beacons Fall to UIC in Second Round of MVC Tournament

The sixth-seeded Valpo volleyball team saw its time at the MVC Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa come to an end in the second round Sunday night, as third-seeded UIC earned a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory. The back-and-forth affair featured 34 tie scores and 18 lead changes over the four sets.

How It Happened

–          Valpo won the race to 20 in the opening frame, owning a slim 20-19 edge with five points to go. But UIC scored the final six points of the set to take the opener.

–          It was a four-point advantage for the Beacons in set two at 18-14 before the Flames scored five in a row to pull in front, 19-18.

–          Valpo responded with a 7-2 run to end the set, capped by consecutive kills from freshman Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo), to even the match at one set apiece.

–          Just like the second set, the Beacons held a four-point lead late in set three at 21-17. This time, however, UIC scored eight of the final nine points of the set to pull back in front in the match, 2-1.

–          Valpo enjoyed a 16-12 lead in set four, but again the Flames had a big run late in the set, scoring 13 of the match’s final 16 points to close out their win.

Inside the Match

–          Merk enjoyed the best attacking match of her rookie year, finishing with a team-high and season-best 12 kills on .600 hitting. The .600 hitting percentage was the best by a Beacon this year (minimum 10 kills) and is tied for fourth-highest in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era.

–          Senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) posted her 18^th double-double of the season and the 42^nd of her career, finishing with 11 kills and 11 digs.

–          Junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) easily led all players with 35 digs, her sixth effort of 30 or more digs this season. The 35 digs are tied for second-most in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and are seventh-most in a single match in MVC Tournament history.

–          UIC enjoyed a 62-50 edge in kills at the end of the night and outhit Valpo .266-.166, thanks in large part to a 16-6 advantage in the blocks department.

Inside the Season

–          Valpo won 18 matches this season and extended its streak of top-half MVC finishes and qualifying for the MVC Tournament to eight consecutive seasons — every year since joining the Valley.

–          The Beacons counted on their freshman class for 58.7% of the team’s points this year, far and away the highest percentage of points accounted for by freshmen in the tenure of head coach Carin Avery.

–          Freshman Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) posted a .331 hitting percentage for the season, second-best by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and third-best across all eras, and tallied a team-high 139 blocks, third-most at Valpo in the 25-point era and eighth-most across all eras.

–          Led by Pickett, the Beacons averaged 2.22 blocks/set this year, third-highest in the 25-point era.

–          Sophomore Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) delivered 41 service aces, tied for second-most at Valpo in the 25-point era. As a team, the Beacons racked up 180 aces, second-most by a Valpo team in the 25-point era.

–          Hickey became just the second player in program history with multiple 700-dig seasons, tallying 715 digs — sixth-most in a season by a Valpo player.

–          Swistek racked up 371 kills to lead the Beacons, eighth-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and the most since 2018.

–          Freshman Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) finished the year with 293 kills, tied for third-most by a freshman under Avery, and 78 blocks, sixth-most by a freshman in Avery’s tenure. Merk’s 75 blocks ranks seventh by a freshman under Avery, while Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) posted 238 kills, eighth-most by a freshman in Avery’s tenure.

Inside the Careers

–          This year’s Valpo squad featured just two seniors.

–          Swistek ended the night with 1,479 career digs and 1,018 career kills, ranking 12^th and 19^th in program history, respectively. She surpassed former Valpo standout Angie Nordquist in both categories on Sunday.

–          Abby Boyle (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) appeared in 91 matches, tallying 118 digs.