Valpo Volleyball Posts Pair of Sweeps Friday
It took less than two and a half hours combined for the Valpo volleyball team to dispatch a pair of opponents by 3-0 final scores Friday on its opening day at the Terrier Invite in Spartanburg, S.C., as the Beacons opened with a morning sweep of Presbyterian (25-20, 25-18, 25-21) before coming back with an afternoon sweep of South Carolina State (25-12, 25-22, 25-16).
How It Happened – Presbyterian
– The story of the first set against the Blue Hose was the Beacons’ attack, as they matched a season high with 20 kills in the set.
– Valpo never trailed in the opener. The score was tied at 7-7 before a 6-1 run — featuring two kills apiece from junior Sam Warren (Kentland, Ind./South) Newton) and freshmen Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Kadence Brumitt (Niles, Mich./Brandywine) — gave the Beacons a 13-8 lead.
– PC rattled off four points in a row to close back within one at 13-12, but Valpo responded with a 4-1 spurt to regain separation and maintained at least a three-point lead the rest of the way in claiming the opener.
– A pair of long service runs decided the second set, the first from freshman Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall). Trailing 5-3, Gove picked up a kill to rotate to the back row and then served the next six points in a row — including two kills each for Warren and senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) — to give Valpo a 10-5 lead.
– The Blue Hose scored the next two to make it a 10-7 score. Pickett returned the serve to Valpo with a kill, starting a 6-0 run on the serve of freshman Lindley Martin (North Judson, Ind./North Judson-San Pierre). When the run came to an end, the Beacons enjoyed a 16-7 advantage and rolled to the 2-0 lead in the match.
– Unlike the first two sets, the third frame was tight throughout, featuring 16 tie scores. In fact, the two teams were tied at every point from 5-5 until 18-18.
– The final tie came after a Presbyterian service error, and Valpo’s block did the rest the next few points. Pickett first combined with Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) on a rejection to give the Beacons the lead, and then teamed up with Gove for the two-point edge. Pickett followed that with a solo stuff, pushing Valpo’s lead to 21-18, and the Beacons sided out on each of the Blue Hose’s final serves of the match to close out the sweep.
How It Happened – South Carolina State
– A five-point spurt on the serve of junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn), which featured a trio of service aces by Hickey, gave Valpo the lead for good in the opener.
– Hickey’s service run kicked off a larger 12-3 run which put the Beacons up 15-7 in the first set en route to taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
– Valpo was unable to pull away in the second set despite leading by as many as five points at 19-14, as the Bulldogs closed to within one point multiple times late. But the Beacons kept SCSU from tying the frame, and a kill from Brumitt closed the set in Valpo’s favor.
– South Carolina State led past the midway point of the third set, holding a 15-13 lead. But from that point, a Valpo service error was the only point the Bulldogs notched, as the Beacons closed the set and the match on a 12-1 run — including four kills by Gove — to finish out their second win of the day.
Inside the Matches
– Combined with last Saturday’s sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne, the Beacons have three consecutive 3-0 wins — their longest stretch of sweeps since winning 3-0 in each of their first four rounds of the 2021 NIVC.
– Valpo was able to rotate its lineups throughout Friday’s sweeps, as setters Addy Kois (Osceola, Ind./Penn) and Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) were the only Beacons to appear in all six sets.
– All 17 active players appeared in the win over Presbyterian, while eight different attackers notched at least three kills against South Carolina State.
– In the opener, Valpo held a 52-35 advantage in kills over Presbyterian and hit at a .323 clip for the match, buoyed by 27 assists from Kois and 18 helpers from Thomas.
– Swistek paced the attack against the Blue Hose with 14 kills on .333 hitting while also posting 14 digs.
– Pickett hit .750 for the match, smashing nine kills on just 12 swings, and also led all players with four blocks.
– Helming finished without an attack error as well against PC, notching six kills on 11 swings.
– Hickey led the back-row effort in the opener with 23 digs, her 42nd career match with at least 20 digs.
– While the opener featured strong attacking numbers, the sweep of SCSU was highlighted by defense and serving numbers.
– Valpo held the Bulldogs to just 20 kills on .048 hitting over the three sets and racked up 10 service aces — tied for fifth-most in a three-set match in the 25-point era in the program’s record book and the most in a sweep since 2015.
– Three different players tied their career high for aces against SCSU — Kois with four, Hickey with three and Kendal Ramey (Crawfordsville, Ind./Western Boone) with two.
– Hickey started at outside hitter in the nightcap and tied for team-high honors with eight kills on .313 hitting while also tallying eight digs despite playing just two sets.
– Gove matched Hickey with eight kills, despite appearing in just one set.
– Brumitt paced the Beacons against the Bulldogs with 10 digs in her two sets of action.
Next Up
Valpo (8-3) goes for a tournament victory and a victorious close to nonconference play on Saturday morning when it faces tournament host Wofford. First serve is slated for 10 a.m., and all the action can be seen live on ESPN+.