Lethal Attack Leads Volleyball to Sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne
Led by its strongest performance on the attack in nearly a calendar year, the Valpo volleyball team kicked off the EMU Tournament in Ypsilanti, Mich. Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-16) sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. Sophomore Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) paced the attack as she became one of just two Valpo players in the last decade to hit over .700 in a match.
How It Happened
– While Valpo hit .419 in the opening set, it took the Beacons until late in the frame to pull away, as the Mastodons hit better than .300 in the set as well. In fact, there were nine ties in the set — the latest coming at 15-15 — and the Beacons still led by just two points at 22-20 in the final stages.
– Fittingly, it was three straight kills which closed the opener in Valpo’s favor, as Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall), Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) and Helming strung together consecutive kills to make it 1-0 Beacons.
– The second set was even tighter into the second half of the frame, as it ended up featuring a whopping 15 ties and five lead changes. The Mastodons scored the first two points of the set for the only two-point advantage until Valpo led 18-16.
– That 18-16 lead was the halfway point of a four-point spurt for the Beacons, including two kills and a block from Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South Newton), which turned a 16-16 tie into a 20-16 advantage. A Purdue Fort Wayne kill briefly stopped the momentum, but another Warren kill continued the run, as Valpo closed the set on a 9-2 run — capped by a Gove service ace — to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
– The third set featured none of the drama of the first two sets, as an early 6-0 run on the serve of Brumitt pushed the Beacons’ lead to 12-5 approaching the midway point of the frame and the Mastodons got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Inside the Match
– Helming’s performance from the right pin was at another level Thursday. The sophomore took 17 swings and converted those into 12 kills with no attack errors, good for a .706 hitting percentage. She was a perfect 5-for-5 with her attacks in the second set.
– The .706 hitting percentage was not only a career best, it was fourth-highest by a Valpo player in a three-set match in the 25-point era.
– Helming joins Peyton McCarthy as the only Valpo players in the last decade to hit better than .700 in a match.
– Helming has reached double figures in kills in all four matches this season and has tied or outright led the team in the category in all four as well.
– As a team, the Beacons hit .346 on Thursday, their best single-match mark since hitting .349 against Tarleton State Sept. 7, 2024. Three of their first four matches this year have seen the Beacons hit at least .288.
– While Helming led the way on the attack, she had plenty of help as well. Warren reached double figures in kills for the second time this season with a 10-kill afternoon, Gove chipped in nine kills on .389 hitting and Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) hit .538 with eight kills.
– Valpo finished with a 50-32 advantage in kills over the Mastodons.
– Senior Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) posted a career-best setting percentage of .639 on Thursday, dishing out 23 assists on 36 attempts. She has recorded a setting percentage of .500 or better in three of Valpo’s first four matches this season after doing so just three times combined in her first three seasons.
– Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) handed out 19 assists as well in the sweep.
– Defensively, Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) led all players in digs for the fourth time in as many matches to start the year, tallying 13 digs.
– The Beacons doubled up the Mastodons in the blocks department, 8-4, as Warren, Merk and Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) were all part of four rejections.
– Valpo extended its winning streak over Purdue Fort Wayne to nine consecutive meetings, including sweeps in each of the last three years.
Next Up
Valpo (3-1) closes out its time in Michigan with a pair of matches Friday. The Beacons start the day against Niagara at 10 a.m. CT before finishing the tournament against the host Eagles at 5 p.m. CT. The latter match can be seen live on ESPN+.